The Midnight Crows
by dragontank1414
Summary: A mercenary group known as the Midnight Crows, lead by their leader Draven, makes their mark on history in Thedas. How will this group deal with the coming of the Fifth Blight, the future mage rebellion, and the coming apocalypse?
1. Chapter 1

Errissa was used to being in a bad situation. Hell, bad situation after another pretty much summed up her life. Trapped in a cage with little more than rags for clothing, in the middle of a bandit hideout, with her adopted clan slain and no one to help her. Yep, this was not too different from the usual. She brushes her blonde hair away from her face and her blue eyes flash with anger. Damn shem, damn them all for their destructive nature. Speaking of shem, the leader of this particular band of shemlen walks through the door and right up to her cage. She sticks her arms out through the bars to test his distance and he wisely stays far enough away that she can't reach him. He smirks "Well, little knife eared bitch, you are going to make a fun little addition to our collection. And, once we have enjoyed our games, we can put you in the gibbet outside and then all the dumb wandering travelers and lost traders can wave at you before our watchman puts an arrow in 'em." He smirks and blows her a kiss then he goes still, as she hears the sound of blades piercing flesh. He collapses against her cage, three throwing knives protruding from his back. In the door stands a shem, who has black hair, green eyes, pale skin, black leather armor and two daggers on his waist, his armor sporting various compartments and pouches. He bows politely, his voice a mix of condescending and mock formality "My lady, my name is Draven. And it would seem as if I happened upon you at a good moment."

Errissa smiles at him "Is this providence or do you have a particular reason for showing up?" He shrugs "Well, I was hired to kill these idiots. Grieving widow or somesuch. And here, I find a sightly elven woman in need of assistance." She folds her arms "I can take care of myself shem." He nods "True. Perhaps. But, you must admit I have a good sense of timing. Someone needed to quiet that tongue of his." "He was frightfully irritating." He unlocks her cell door and his demeanor turns serious "You are free to leave. But, before you do, I want to extend you an offer." She brushes past him "I want nothing you may offer me. Do not fake yourself into the illusion that you saved my life. I am fully capable of defending myself." "What I offer you is something you may take of your own free will. I offer you a job, and I offer you companionship." She walks down the hall of slaughtered bandits and snorts "Companionship? With a shem the likes of yourself?" "Not that kind of companionship. I meant to say that I wish for you to join my mercenary group. I had hoped that perhaps you would want to avoid future unpleasantness and recapture." "I'm not a morally ambiguous mercenary for hire." Draven smirks "Perfect. Neither are we." She walks out into the main hall and amongst the corpses she sees two dwarves, a male and female, drinking at the table. They both have brown hair and similar facial features, though the female has a softer, more feminine look, naturally. Their black body armor is spattered with blood, as is the black armor of everyone else in the room. Her eyes slowly observed the Qunari reading a book in one corner, who had one metal horn and one real one and grey hair that fell to his shoulders. Two more shemlen, one olive skinned, clad in leather armor, leaning against his bow. The female wore the heaviest looking set of armor, with a shield leaning against the wall beside her as she leans back against the stone, arms folded, eyes closed, her brown hair falling around her face. From the room opposite walks out an elf, with Dalish markings, holding Errissa's robes and her staff. Errissa smiles "Glad to not be the only elvhen in the room."

Draven points at the dwarves "Salvador, Helga, no drinking on the job." Salvador chuckles "Come on boss, you know I like a little victory pint after a decent fight." Helga nods "Not a lot of bandits around to cause a problem." Salvador pulls a dead bandit in the chair beside him "You want a drink too buddy?" He pours some beer from his pint glass on the man then pushes him aside "Nah? Fine, didn't want to share anyway." "Men, women, introductions are in order I believe. Salvador and Helga, twins, are our crowd control. Finest Berserker warriors this side of the hundreds of feet of rock separating… too long winded, moving on." Salvador groans "He didn't do my intro right. I feel ripped off." Draven motions to the female shem "This is Maxis, a Grey Warden and our expert defender." Errissa watches Maxis, looking for a reaction, to which she gets a sideways look and nothing else. "And of course, we have our Antivian assassin Amere" he bows politely "our Qunari rear line defender Neros" he closes his book and puts it back in his pack "and naturally you noticed Lisette, our Dalish sharpshooter." Lisette hands Errissa her robes and she smiles "Aneth ara." Lisette frowns and reaches up, pulling down the collar of her undershirt to reveal the scar on her throat. Errissa touches it softly and a tear comes to Lisette's eyes. Draven nods "I couldn't stop her captors from rendering her mute the day I rescued her. Medicine can only do so much to repair her vocal cords." Lisette puts a hand on Draven's chest and she smiles, then turns back to Errissa, touching her Dalish marking then touching Errissa's in a fashion her particular clan must have used as greeting. Errissa smiles and touches her shoulder before turning to Draven "I think I may stay a while. By the way, my name is Errissa."

After changing, Errissa finds her place in the traveling group near the rear with Neros. Since she was a mage, it was natural she be nearest the back, and if they were attacked from behind, at least she could protect Neros with magic so they couldn't be overrun. Lisette was nowhere to be found, far off scouting the area in search of potential threats. Maxis led the front line, with Draven behind her and the twins behind him at a distance. At the middle of the pack was Amere. Neros turns to Errissa "You are an exceptional mage I would assume." "What brought you to that assumption?" "That staff is the staff of a keeper." "So you know of my people." "I know of many things. So, what is a keeper doing out here in the middle of a bandit camp?" She frowns "Well, the group of shem-" "Bandits." Neros says this with a slight growl and his aggressive voice shook Errissa with a fear she was not familiar with. But this 8 foot tall Qunari bore into her and frightened her with his mere glare. "Bandits… they attacked my Dalish clan. At first, handling them wasn't difficult.. but then…" Her mind flashes back to the Antivian firebomb hitting their herb storage aravel. "Ir abelas, ma vhenan." Errissa looks up at Neros, surprised "You speak elven? You are full of surprises." He chuckles "And you haven't even seen me fight yet."

Errissa saw their destination ahead. A large cottage of sorts with a couple sheds for storage, a full forge out back and a well. It sports an impressive garden with everything from elfroot to various vegetables. As they all head inside Draven walks to Errissa "We have a spare bunk for you, and you can leave your weapon in the bedroom closet. There are pegs to hang it from. Don't do what Neros did one time and just set it in there. Helga was almost split in two." They all start stripping from their armor with the exception of Maxis and Neros. Errissa looks around the cramped cottage "Is it safe here?" Draven chuckles "This is the safest building in all of Thedas. Except maybe the royal treasury in Denerim." Maxis turns to Neros "Ready to train big guy? That scuffle back there wasn't the fight I was hoping for." He grunts "I was hoping you would say that. I felt the same way." They head out the back door and Draven turns to Errissa "Feel free to explore the grounds. I have plants for alchemy. Tools for woodworking. Whatever you need to train, relax or create new equipment for later fights." She nods "Alright then. I'll make sure to look around. I think I am going to enjoy it here."


	2. Chapter 2

Errissa heads outside and looks at the array of plants in the garden. Plenty of elfroot for potions and salves. Embrium for balms and other various potions. Deathroot for toxins. An alchemists wet dream. Helga walks out into the garden and begins to preen some unhealthy limbs from a berry bush. "You tend to the garden?" Helga nods and Errissa chuckles "A dwarf with a green thumb. What irony." Helga laughs and she smiles "Oh trust me, the irony is not lost on me. In Orzammar the only thing you can grow is glowing mushroom. I found once I was here on the surface that I was quite the herbalist and I had a green thumb. I had a great tutor. Man by the name of Goron. Elven, city elf, one of the few to rise to a respectable status due to his natural skills. He was a very capable mage as well and he served as an advisor to the Viscount of Kirkwall." "Kirkwall? The human city in the Free Marches?" "Yes, that den of despair and iniquity was where I started. It's typically where most dreams go to die, but for me it started me down a path that led me back to my brother, then where I am today."

Ordinarily a social person, getting to know Helga was actually nice. She realized that these people would be risking their lives alongside her, so she patrolled the grounds where she saw Lisette and Amere having a bow and arrow competition. Amere was a really well trained shot but Lisette was simply one grade better. Amere turns to her and she shrugs, having hit a perfect bullseye on the 30 yard target. Amere leans against the bow a little "Well I can't help that I was trained in so many other disciplines of combat that I'm not a particularly honed shot." "What kind of disciples?" This question draws his attention to Errissa "Well, I am an expert at hand to hand, thrown weapons, bomb making-" This made Errissa wince "daggers, the bow, and combat magic." "You're a mage?" "At first glance you may mistake me as a typical assassin. But yes, I am a mage. But combat magic is messy and dangerous, I don't resort to it unless I have to. Unlike most mages I can focus it directly out of my hands, usually with cone spells or minor elemental projectiles." "A staff would make your magic much more potent." "Oh, I know that. And that is why I don't use my magic. Want to try the bow? Should your magic fail you, a back up discipline is always a good thing." Errissa smiles "Not today, maybe in the future." Lisette puts a hand on her arm and hands her a bow. Errissa smiles "Alright." She takes the arrow she is offered, and Lisette guides her hands to help her knock the arrow, aim and then fire, just shy of the center ring. Errissa smiles "That's all there is to it?" Amere smirks "I missed my chance to stand close to you and hold your hands sensually as I lined up the perfect shot to your heart." Errissa narrows her eyes and he chuckles "It was a joke, please do not use your newfound skill to put an arrow through my heart."

Errissa watches Maxis and Neros, using training swords, furiously engaging each other. Neros already had welts on his arm and a big bruise on his chest, while Maxis seemed to not be even sweating. Her defensive stance was very effective, and she effortlessly blocked Neros' two handed wooden sword, getting another strike from her sword. Neros did not seem phased and Maxis drops her stance "Alright big guy, time for a break." He nods and heads towards Errissa, picking up a book he left on the table, before walking to the garden and reading as he picked berries and tossed them in his mouth. Maxis turns to Errissa "Were you hoping to get to know me?" Errissa nods and Maxis motions to the training weapons on the rack by the table "Then pick up a weapon and come over here. We can talk but not without a weapon in your hand." Errissa picks up a bo staff, balanced and well made. She walks into the arena and eyes Maxis closely "Grey Warden huh?" "Yes." Maxis steps in with a lunge which Errissa deflects by spinning her staff, trying to smack Maxis in the head with it but it hits her shield instead, and Maxis steps in with her shield instead of her sword knocking Errissa back "What did you do before then?" "Mercenary work." Maxis charges at Errissa who dodges to the side and strikes her in the back of the leg, making Maxis falter but she turns and swings, hitting Errissa in the side with her weapon and Errissa groans from the pain as the bruise begins to form on her side. Errissa holds her side a little "Be careful. I am a delicate flower." Maxis smiles, and Errissa smiles as well. Good to know she had emotions after all. Maxis sighs and sits at the table after racking her training weapons "You're not bad." "Well, when you are a mage you tend to draw attention to yourself in a fight. It helps to be prepared to defend yourself at close range." Maxis nods "I have only been with the group for about a week. Ever since the catastrophe at Ostagar." "Even amongst my people word of the blight and the battle has spread. You survived that mess?" "I wouldn't say I survived, but I'm still alive." Errissa knows all too well what she means.

With Salvador passed out drunk, Draven was last on her list of people to meet and greet with. Ever since he saved her Errissa had been trying to decipher his demeanor, but like all good rouges his personality was an ever shifting thing. She walks over to Neros "Tell me about our fearless leader." "Go meet him yourself." "But a rouge leading a mercenary band that actually does good?" And a shemlen at that, she noted to herself "Rouges have the perfect mindset to be leaders. Warriors struggle to strategize in the middle of a fight due to the overwhelming adrenaline, which is the primary thing keeping them going in a fight. Mages are intellectually adept at planning and strategizing, but Draven has the right amount of creative forward thinking that allows him to excel at controlling the fight, which is why we respect him so much and we look towards him as leader. Is he the strongest of our group? Perhaps not. On his own, he is not much of a challenge. But, he is the leader nonetheless." Errissa nods and Draven walks outside and smiles at Neros who goes back to reading "I hear I am a subject of discussion. Perhaps I can get in on this talk?" Errissa shrugs "I'm getting acquainted with everyone. I know all I need to know about you though." Draven smiles "Oh what a shame. And here I was wanting to put on a show for you. My life story, by Draven." "Do you have a last name?" "No, I sold it for this spiffy armor." "You're impossible to talk to." "I'm impossible to hate though and you know it. Witty banter helps lift the spirits doesn't it?" She couldn't disagree.

A man approaches the cottage and Draven turns to him. He is rather small for a shem, wiry build, mousey features. If he had pointed ears he could pass as a city elf. Draven calls out "Good to see you Flynt." Draven walks towards him "Errissa, come meet Flynt." They walk to him and Flynt grins "Great job Draven. The Midnight Crows are looking better than ever. All of Denerim and beyond is seeking us out with contracts for bandit groups, darkspawn nests and other various quests. Some escort requests for various locations." Draven takes the stack of writs that explained out several of the contracts and the contacts connected to these contracts. "Impressive little brother. At this rate we will be able to build a larger base of operations out of gold. Brother, this is Errissa, a recruit we picked up this morning." Flynt holds out a hand and she takes it graciously. Not being a fighter, Flynt had soft hands. He looked maybe 20-25, at least 5-10 years younger than Draven. "Flynt is the face of our organization. He meets alongside me with contacts to arrange payment, and discuss the details of the contracts. Speaking of, I need to go through these, see which ones are best for us to take up, then I'll start sending you guys out on your missions." "Seperately?" "No. That would not be a good idea. You will travel in pairs, and the pairs I choose will be chosen based on the mission at hand and your skills. So don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing."


	3. Chapter 3

Errissa got paired with Neros to take care of a blood mage problem. Why you would send a Qunari and a mage to deal with a blood mage cult was beyond Errissa's comprehension. Would be more efficient to send the twins, dwarves had a natural magic resistance. As if reading her mind Neros looks over at her as they walk towards the secluded cottage this cult was said to be holed up in "I was once a handler with the Qun. We handlers go through similar training as your Templars. It is our job to keep our Saarabas charges under control." "What is a Saarabas?" "Saarabas means dangerous thing. It's how we refer to all our mages. Actually its how we refer to mages in general." Errissa did not like the way he said the word thing. "Our mages have their mouths sewn shut, they are bound with their arms trapped in their armor, and they are treated horribly." This image did not set well with Errissa "Well, my people revel in the use of magic, and our leader is chosen based on the most magically gifted amongst us." He chuckles "And my kind would see you all subjected to the same fate, if not worse, if you even sneezed fire." "You seem to be calm, discussing all this." "Well, that life is behind me. The Qun gave me strength, discipline and the ability to fight out of just about any challenging situation but the Qun is an entity, not a group of people. I can't be part of something that takes away who you are as a person and tells you what you will be." "A rebel, huh?" "In a manner of speaking, yes." Errissa smiles "I can respect that."

Errissa gave both herself and Neros a protective barrier and it deflects the arrows the lookouts at the door fire at them. Neros lets out a loud battlecry as he charges in close. One archer switches to using a sword and the other runs inside. The lithe archer did not have enough strength to hold against Neros' overhead swing, killing the man easily. Neros bashes through the front door and per his instruction Errissa follows after a few seconds. Neros has the attention of everyone in the room which makes it easy for Errissa to pick off one with a powerful arcane bolt, then another with a bolt of lightning from her staff, blasting him to pieces. Neros on the other hand used his Valo Kass Iss to cut down the warriors in the main entrance hall. Errissa picks off another fighter before he can stab Neros from behind and his overwhelming strength makes it impossible to block his attacks and he moves with such intent and purpose that he is hard to predict. He really was a force of nature. One soldier manages to block his overhead slash with his shield and in a swift motion he disarms the Qunari, only to be punched in the face so hard he is instantly rendered unconscious. Errissa picks off the last fighter and Neros smiles "Enjoy the show?" She smirks "Don't get a big head. Your horns might get stuck in the ceiling." He picks up his sword. "The blood mage is further inside."

Draven smiles at Errissa as she walks into the cottage "A success I'll assume?" She nods and she puts the blood mages pendant on the table "He was a mouthy shemlen." Draven smiles "Well, I'm glad to see you fitting in so well." She smiles "It was an easy enough contract. Have another for me?" "Not until Lisette and Amere return from theirs. Then I'm sending you out with Lisette. It's a demon hunting contract, and I know that demons are best handled by mages due to them possessing weaknesses to specific types of magic, usually. And Lisette is an incredible shot. Plus this is close to a Dalish camp, so I figured it best that it be my two Dalish, in case you end up making contact with the clan." Errissa nods "Makes sense. Until she returns I'm going to mix some potions for the road." Draven nods "By all means do as you wish."

Several weeks, a few more missions and one tavern brawl that ended with them all being kicked out, Errissa felt more and more at home with her comrades. Comrades. It was a funny word to her. Despite being her opposite in almost every manner, her and Neros seemed to be close, kindred spirits. He was intelligent, strong, easy to get along with, handsome… Errissa shakes her head to clear her thoughts as she drifts asleep. She looks across the wide expanse that is the fade, smiling at all its beauty and wonder. Being so closely connected to the fade, she could only see it in a positive light. She feels her mind subconsciously tapping into her dreamwalking ability, and she tries to fight back against it. An unwelcome power of hers, Errissa would sometimes find herself living out the most vivid memory in a person's mind, through their eyes. She cries out as her control slips away and the images around her fade to black.


	4. Chapter 4

Maxis stands alongside many other Grey Wardens, in steel armor with spiked shoulder pads and a gryphon emblazoned on the chest. She hefts her large rectangular shaped spiked shield. Though much heavier than typical shields, it was perfect against darkspawn who employed little fighting strategy when attacking, making them easy targets for shield or sword. She looks across the open field in front of the Ostagar fortress, trying to relax her mind before the fight, when the darkspawn begin to emerge from the forest numbering in the hundreds. Undoubtedly, behind these few hundred were at least a thousand more. Maxis looked towards Duncan, and he gives her a reassuring smile as archers rain flaming arrows upon the darkspawn ranks. After the hounds were released, King Callin ordered a forward charge. Leading the defensive line, Maxis charges forward, blocking arrows with her shield and crouching low, ramming into a Hurlock and bashing it aside, her shield rending the demonic creature apart. She cuts down another Hurlock and shield bashes a Genlock as she steadily holds back their advance. She dodges the spear tip of a Hurlock and severs its arm, spinning to avoid the axe of an Alpha, then hitting him with her shield. She maintains mobile despite all the armor, but she eventually tires out, so she drops her shield and picks up a fallen warrior's two handed blade. She spins it and the Hurlock that charges her is easily cleaved in half. She rushes at a Genlock, and it raises its shield in defense, so she sweeps low with the weapon, cutting off its legs and then decapitating it.

Maxis dodges an ogre and slashes at its leg, making it stumble, then she leaps on its back, driving the greatsword through its back. The ogre collapses in a heap and Maxis tries to pull out the sword but another ogre picks her up. She growls and an arrow hits it in the eye, making it loosen its grip. She falls down and scrambles for a weapon as it lumbers towards her. Just as the ogre is reaching down to grab her she cleaves off one of its hands and impales the sword into its chest, howling in anguish "Die foul creatures!" She dives out of the way of its collapsing body, and looks around. So many dead, and to her right she saw the king's corpse. No… with him dead, all was lost. She picks up his greatsword, though the heated battle leaves her feeling weakened and tired. She tugs on the straps to her chestplate and it falls to the ground, then she looks out at the army of darkspawn "Alright, let's do this!" She lets out a battlecry that echoes through the valley, running head first into the thick of the horde, slashing her way through the darkspawn. A Hurlock Alpha blocks her horizontal swing with his axe and she pushes against him with such strength she pushes him back and as she bulldozes him down she takes his axe, using it to cleave his head in two then uses a wide spinning attack to kill several more. Arrows pierce her flesh but she doesn't feel them, continuing her onslaught until a Genlock Rouge manages to bury both his daggers in her back. She gasps and collapses.

Maxis looks up to see a Hurlock Alpha dragging her through a cavern. Her body was already battle worn and now she had many scrapes along her back from being drug around. She reaches down and pulls out her emergency dagger, stabbing the Hurlock in the leg, then taking his axe right off his back and killing him with it. Running on pure adrenaline Maxis runs in the direction of what she hopes is the exit. She had to carve her way through 3 more Hurlocks, but finally she managed to make it out of the cave. There she saw a sight that broke her, emotionally. The blood drenched battlefield was a darkspawn feasting ground. And the worse insult of all, the fire that burned atop the Tower of Ishal. She takes off into the woods, the axe slipping from her grasp at some point as she desperately puts as much distance between herself and the horrors of that battle. She could not recall when, but she managed to make it to the road, where she passed out from exhaustion. Awaking again she looks up to see the smiling face of a female dwarf "Sir, shes awake." The rouge standing in the corner walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder. "You're a miracle worker Helga."

Kirkwall was not the best place for a fresh start but surface dwarves did not get a lot of options, or a lot of breaks for that matter. So, Helga had to pick and choose her battles. It was either slum it here in the relatively safe city or try to make a living out there in the middle of no where. So, Helga looks up at the chantry board, and sees a notice that catches her attention "Herbalist aspirant wanted. Little to no training actually required, inquire in the office of the Viscount." Well, if it was a paying job then who was Helga to turn it down? So Helga tears down the notice and makes her way to the Viscount's office. The receptionist looks down at her "Can I help you?" Helga holds up the notice "I'm here about the herbalist position." "She chuckles "Oh Goron is going to love this. Hold right here." She walks off, coming back with an elf, who was tall even for his race, lithe with very elegant magic robes, red and white with the Kirkwall crest on its chest. "I'll admit, I'm surprised to see a dwarf answer my summons. But nonetheless, you have taken the initiative to seek me out." Helga nods "Now, I am interested in the job but I want to verify that I will be getting paid a decent wage." Goron shakes his head "You will not be getting paid, but what I can offer you is free housing and food, and training in perhaps one of the most valuable skills a person can learn." Helga nods "I accept."

While modest in size and in overall design, Helga's small apartment was leagues better than sleeping outside. For the next few weeks, Goron and Helga would work together and he would teach her secrets to working the land. "And so, by cutting the wilting parts of the plant in such a way, you not only save the plant but you ensure it grows healthier." She nods "You use your magic to help the plants grow." Goron nods "Good to see you paying attention." "But sir, I cannot use magic. How can I keep them healthy like you do?" He smiles "There is magic in these plants. By sacrificing a small part of the harvest, crushing it up and adding it back to the soil, you can guarantee the next harvest grows back stronger than the last." She smiles and he puts his hand to the elfroot, infusing it with a small bit of mana, just enough to make it glow softly. He smiles to her. "You know how to grow herbs. Now we can focus on putting those herbs to use."

Helga was at the less than reputable side of Kirkwall, and decided to stop into the Hanged Man tavern. It was a garbage heap, sure. And the beer was not that great. But it was not a bad way to spend her free time. As she sits at a table enjoying a beer that wasn't completely terrible, she looks up to see a small band of mercs walking through the door. Helga stands and rushes over to them "Brother?" The dwarf looks at her with a far away look "Helga… man I haven't seen you since we got separated in the forest, what was it now? Like 5 years ago?" They hug and she holds him at arms length "It has been 5 years now hasn't it? I can hardly believe it. I see you are doing well for yourself." He nods "Me and the boys just got back from another job and we came in for some drinks. How about you?" She smiles sleepishly looking away a little "Well, I got a job with the Viscount's magical advisor actually." He pats her on the shoulder "That's amazing. Lets have some drinks, to celebrate a family reunion!" "Last I remembered, you didn't need a reason to drink." The other guys in the group chuckle at her crack.

It was wonderful to have her brother around. As his band of mercenaries took up jobs around Kirkwall, the two spent their free time together. Salvador taught his sister some advanced tactics with two handed swords that he picked up from his time with the group but Helga still preferred her hammer. "So what kind of contracts do you guys normally do?" He shrugs and kind of slumps his shoulders "Oh, you know, the ones that pay." "Don't tell me you guys are out taking any job." He puts a hand on her shoulder "Sis, You don't understand. I didn't know what kind of trouble I was getting myself into but these mercs are serious about their oaths." "Meaning?" "Meaning that if I try to leave they may kill me, or worse, they may target you." Naturally, their acts of violence did not go unnoticed. Helga was out for a walk outside the city walls when she saw Salvador's group engaged with a Qunari, an Antivian, a human and an archer picks off one of the mercs from its hiding spot in the trees. The Antivian kills one soldier by parrying his sword into the leg of another then slitting his throat, as the Qunari cleaves in half the wounded man to his left. The rouge leaps back to avoid Salvador's greatsword, throwing daggers at him which most bounce off his armor but one penetrates through a chink in the shoulder. Salvador pulls the dagger out and winds up for a heavy swing as the rouge dashes in, surprising him with a pommel strike to the stomach. The Qunari finishes off the last merc and turns to Salvador, just as Helga runs over "Please, stand down. Everyone." The rouge walks over, drawing a dagger from his waist. "Miss, that man is guilty of many war crimes, some of which-" "I know, but… just hear me out. Dwarves have it hard up here. And some, like my brother, are not very bright." "Hey-" "Shut up I'm saving your life you idiot. As I was saying, we have to do what we can to get by. Sometimes, we get tangled up with the wrong people. But, its not his fault. And he deserves another chance." The rouge seems to consider this for a moment. The Qunari groans "Boss, you can't be-" "Now hold on Neros. This isn't such a terrible idea. He could make a great addition to the team."

Neros and his group of Tal-Vashoth look across the valley at the shipwrecked Qunari warship. The Qunari who abandoned it most likely took all the gaatlock and secured it close by. Along with most the weapons. So it was simply a matter of time before another ship came to recover the precious gaatlock. Neros sharpens his sword and grunts "Going to be a good battle, that is for sure." He turns to his clan wife, Fenice Adaar. When he fled the Qun he took her with him. She did not refuse, as her body still bore the scars from her torment, due to her status as a saarebas. She was grinning as well and walks over to him "If you keep sharpening that sword in anticipation, then it will become weak." Her green eyes were soft, despite her hardened outward appearance and the many scars she proudly displayed. Her robe was very revealing, or 'unrestrictive' as she preferred to see it, her black hair was tied in 4 long braids. She pulls out her staff and turns to the rest of the party, about 20 strong, capable and well trained Tal-Vashoth. "Tomorrow gentlemen and women, we strike against the very people that shun us for the pursuit of Ataash (glory)! To them, we are Basalit-an, unworthy of respect. Ebasaam Hissera (we are hope)! Ebasaam Kadan (we are friends/family)! Nehraa(for the Qunari)! Nehraa!" The crowd begins to chant her words of strength. "Parshaara! (enough)" They all stop. She walks to the groups herbalist "Have you prepared the Saar-quamek (madness poison)?" Neros walks over "Fenice, we agreed-" "Parshaara! We must win. Ebasaam Hissera." "I know, but is poison truly the way?" She looks him up in the eye before kissing him on the cheek "Never ask if something is wrong in war. Everything about war itself is wrong. Ask yourself this, what would they do to secure their victory, and what must you do to ensure that never happens?"

As the ship neared the shore Neros looks over at his wife, then at the salvaged Adaar. It sat mounted atop the cliffside, loaded with a cannonball that would explode when it hit the ground and cause a mist of the Saar-quamek. Once the Qunari began fighting amongst each other they could secure the stash, the ship and the gaatlock. Neros raises his sword and as the troops dismount from the ship he holds up a hand. He points to the group below and Fenice fires the Adaar at them, and as planned the explosion from the cannonball causes a barely visible mist. The Qunari scramble towards their ship when the madness begins to take hold. As they begin fighting amongst themselves, Neros spots the hideaway of the shipwrecked group as they come pouring out. "Sataari!" The heartiest of the Tal-Vashoth group advances down the path to the beach and begin engaging the confused Qunari. The rest of the group, including Neros himself, descend upon the disoriented soldiers. Neros locks swords with one and dodges to the side as he attempts a kick to the leg. He stumbles forward and Neros stabs him through the back. 'Just like they stabbed me in the back' he thinks to himself as he turns to deflect the blade of another skilled warrior. Their blades clash repeatedly before Neros' speed gets the better of the younger soldier and he decapitates him. Fenice causes an eruption of fire, before catching an arrow to the stomach. She pulls out the arrow then casts a barrier on herself, groaning and freezing the archer on the ship. She summons fire to scorch a group trying to retreat onto the ship, then an elemental barrage of lightning to fry many of them in their own armor. Neros walks to her "Your magic is strong with you today." She drops to one knee using her staff for support "I'm weakened after that sudden outburst." She takes a potion from her pouch and downs the blue liquid before standing, her eyes glowing.

There is more shouting as a Qunari is thrown over board, his armor making him sink like a stone. A Saarebas leaps down from the deck to the ground, hands no longer bound, holding a staff in his hand. He slams one end of the staff down letting off a fire nova that kills several Qunari and Tal-Vashoth. Neros puts one hand up and he feels his training as Arvaraad paying off as he draws the magic right from the saarebas, which responds by rushing straight at him. He tries to thrust his sword into its chest but its barrier deflects his strike, and he grabs Neros' sword, snapping it in half. Neros looks up at the Saarebas, who was taller and more muscular, just as it punched him far back. It slams down its staff and lightning snakes its way towards Neros as he lays prone on the ground, but Fenice gets in the way and the lightning channels to her staff, up it then back out the gem on top in the form of a powerful lightning strike that knocks back the saarebas, but only a little. The two fire energy projectiles at each other, roaring as their respective barriers held against the onslaught. Neros runs towards the saarebas but Fenice stops him "Parshaara!" She runs towards the saarebas, looking back at Neros "Ebasaam Hissera Neros!" She turns back to the saarebas, who grabs her by her throat and Neros cries out "No!" She puts her hand to its head and burns it with Walking Bomb, before lighting fire to a pouch of gaatlock she had hidden in her pocket. He runs towards her but the explosion launches him back and knocks him unconscious.

Lisette enjoyed the cool night air as she leaped from tree to tree. Being out here alone was against Keeper Arinala's orders. But Lisette preferred to hunt alone. Few in her clan could keep pace with her and none were as good of a natural shot as she was. Lisette stops when she hears voices, tilting her head and observing the altercation between a Dalish hunting party of two from another nearby clan and a small group of Avaar warriors. They were apparently arguing over who was entitled to what land. Lisette was steering clear of that mess. Then she heard fighting break out and watched the lithe warriors make surprisingly short work of the beastly shemlen. Amazing, she thought to herself. I suppose Keeper Istode trained his people very well to deal with stupid shems. She leaps over to another clearing, bags her a nice strong looking deer, then she begins to make the long journey back. She had not planned this completely through, as normally she only bagged small game but this particular buck was too hardy to pass up. One of the warrior elves walks up behind her, surprising her and making her jump "Hunting alone is forbidden in my clan. Perhaps yours is not the same as mine is, but it would seem that it was a bad idea." Lisette smiles "I was just out for a stroll when Andruil blessed me with this worthy bounty." He smiles "My name is Arden. Now, if you were willing to share half this kill with my clan I can see you back to your clan." She nods "Of course. The company would be much appreciated as well." So the two traveled back together and they talked, mostly about each others clan, about their respective keepers. "My keeper took me in when I fled the alienage." Lisette looks over at him "What is it like being in the city?" "It's horrible. You struggle, suffer, bite and claw your way to make a meager living. This is where elves belong. With nature."

In the following weeks the two would spend a lot of time together, but one day Keeper Arinala approaches Lisette. "Lisette, as you might, or might not have noticed, we are packing and we are moving. This leaves you with two options. You can join Istode's clan, or, you can leave with us. But Arden cannot join our clan." Lisette looks up at Arinala and hugs her "So, your mind is made up it would seem. Very well. Be safe. Mythal guide you." Arden and Lisette met in their usual location and she smiles at him "My Keeper just told me my clan is leaving, but I'm staying behind to be with you." He smiles and hugs her close. As the two embrace each other they walk back to his clan. His clan is much larger than Arinala's, surprising Lisette. She had never seen a Dalish clan of their size. She introduced herself to the mastercraftsmen and the herbalists, making sure to also meet the Keeper himself. After her clan leaves, however, the Avaar and Istode's group begin to fight over the territory. Avaar begin to level trees in the area, so that the clan's archers have less trees to perch and shoot from. Lisette was out hunting one night when she encountered a group of Avaar. Sticking to the trees, Lisette tries to navigate around them and back to her clan. Lisette struggles to move from tree to tree when she suddenly hits a false branch. She plummets 30 feet to the ground.

Lisette is awoken with a hard slap to the face. "Wake up, false child of the earth, so that sky mother can see your cries of agony, as I end your life!" She struggles against her chains and he cups his hand under her chin. His people start chanting and she sees the pile of bodies off to the side, including the body of Keeper Istode. Lisette has tears in her eyes as the sacrificial blade presses to her throat and feels the burn as it slices through her flesh. Warm blood, her blood pours out of her throat and down her front as a rouge appears by the leader "No!" He forces the leader to stab himself in the throat with the dagger, before kicking him back into the crowd. Lisette faintly saw the face of the man as everything faded. She had thought herself dead, but awakens some time later in a warm, soft bed. She puts a hand to her throat and tenderly touches the scar. Draven walks in "So, are you doing better?" She tries to speak but nothing comes out, just some inaudible squeaks. Tears well up in her eyes and Draven puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Your voice may be gone, but your clan still lives. We saved as many as we could." She nods and hugs him around the waist.


	5. Chapter 5

Errissa stops and she exhales softly. She had originally reasoned that her abilty to read other's memories was because of their connection to the fade and her unique one. But, this was obviously not the case, as she was allowed to access Helga's memory, whom was a dwarf. So, either Helga was unique in a sense, or Errissa's power stemmed from something else entirely. She felt Neros get out of bed and leave the room, so she follows after a few seconds. He sits at the table as everyone else sleeps and she sits across from him. "You know." "I'm an Arvaraad. I am trained to sense when my mind is being tampered with." "I am sorry. It's one ability I struggle to control." "Are you a blood mage?" "No, its nothing like that. My magic is unique. And sometimes a little difficult to maintain. Nothing as serious as me waking up in the morning to find a lightning storm in my bedroom though." He chuckles at her joke, helping to lighten the mood. "Good, because if you light our bedroom on fire I'm the furthest from the door." She smiles and stands, walking over next to him and kissing his cheek before hesitantly saying "Ebasaam Hissera. Ebasaam Kadan." She puts her hand over his heart and he smiles warmly "Go get some sleep Emma Lath." She beams at him and slowly makes her way back to her room, lying in bed as the heat in her cheeks subsided and she drifted back to sleep.

Errissa sips her morning tea, looking around the room at the other members of their band of mercs. She looks over at Neros and tilts her head "Tell me, how did you lose your horn?" He smiles over at Amere "This is my favorite story. So there we were, contracted to deal with an Avaar band of pirates, who were prowling the Storm Coast. After pulling the boat to shore with nothing but arrows tied to chains, we engaged them on land. We were outnumbered and the captain got a lucky strike on me before I ended his life." Amere chuckles "No, no, what actually happened was a darkspawn horde ambush. They had managed to take down every other member of our group-" Maxis blurts out "I cut his horn off in a training exercise." Neros and Amere both groan and he turns a light red "Come on, you ruined our story." "Yeah, well she wasn't buying it anyway and I think the truth is even funnier. Its why I'm not allowed to train with real swords." Errissa giggles "You guys love to tell stories huh?" She looks down at her tea smiling. Sure they were all a little bizarre in their own way but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Flynt knocks on the door, and after a brief conversation with his brother, Draven turns to the group, all gathered in the small kitchen "Alright guys, we have a very large contract." Everyone looks to him and he grins "This one comes from Teyrn Logain. According to my brother, he wants to hire us for 75 gold to hunt down a warden group." Maxis narrows her eyes "Excuse me?" Draven laughs "Apparently he claims this particular group is responsible for the King's death." Maxis stabs the dagger she was cutting her apple with into the table and growls as Draven continues "And that's the lovely part. We are not going to do it." Maxis sighs "Thank the Maker, I thought you lost your damn mind for a second." Neros pulls the dagger out of the table "Hey… I made this table." Maxis waves him off looking up at Draven "So you are going to refuse the contract?" Draven shakes his head "It's not that simple. You don't refuse the Teyrn. So, I am going to meet with him, see if I can extort gold from him, track down the warden group, and we are going to join them. Together, we should be able to handle anything the Teyrn throws at us in response for our 'treachery and betrayal'." Draven chuckles as he sits at the table "The meeting is in Denerim. I think its best if we all go together on this trip.

The road to Denerim was surprisingly not traveled by many. Travelers seemed to of abandoned this road entirely. An arrow hits the ground ahead of Maxis and Draven motions for the group to stop and motions for them to move into the trees. Maxis remains on the road and slowly walks forward as the rest of the group keeps pace with her in hiding. Errissa sees the group of bandits ahead, the warning shot was provided by Lisette. 5 bandits in total, they had better armor and weapons than common bandits, indicating that they were most likely successful highwaymen. Not for long. Maxis walks towards them casually as the leader approaches her "Out for a stroll, my lovely bird?" She smiles "I was just walking around, enjoying the sights. I would enjoy it if you would move aside." The only girl in the group walks up and slugs the man in the side a little harder than she may have intended, a bit upset at his flirting "You idiot, are we going to rob her or take her for a romantic walk on the beach?" Maxis smiles "Well, the last option is much more likely to not result in your premature deaths." The biggest man of the group steps forward, chuckling "Cute. But you are not as tough as you think you are little mercenary." She punches him in an exposed part of his stomach, hard enough to leave him doubled over. She blocks a sword slash from one bandit with her shield, deflecting another from her other side with her sword. She uses her shield to knock away the sword of the man to her left off to the side before cutting him in half, then charges forward, bashing into an archer at the rear of the pack and knocking him down. She impales him with her sword before turning back to the group. The woman throws down a smokescreen which sheathes her in shadow magic, Maxis bashes the leader with her shield and knocks him back far, just as the big guy stands holding a two handed sword. Maxis dodges every one of his swings, rolling forward to get behind him, holding her sword backwards and thrusting it back into his back, pulling it out without turning to face him as he collapses. Maxis stands there calmly as the woman moves in behind her, before the wooden stock of a bow wraps around her neck. Lisette strangles her with her bow, kicking her in the leg and pressing a knee to her back as her leg gave out. Lisette waits until she goes completely still, then straps her bow back onto her back. Maxis turns to her "Wouldn't it have been easier to just shoot her?" Lisette smiles and then shrugs, motioning to the possibly dead woman. "True, it's hard to argue with results. Nice job Lisette."

Draven's meeting with Teyrn Logain went better than expected. Logain gave them an advance of a third of the agreed upon contract. So, 25 sovereigns richer, Draven made his way back to his group. Maxis is the first to approach him "So?" Draven smirks "I got 25 gold, the warden's possible locations, and a very stern talking to from the knight captain, about the risks of betraying the Teyrn and the rewards of meeting his expectation." Maxis sighs "I was getting tired of staying neutral in this war anyway." Draven nods "But before any of that, we need to find the Warden." Maxis nods and as they set off from the city Draven tosses his newly 'earned' bag of gold in the air, grinning. Lisette and Amere split off from the group once they leave Denerim, both of them charging ahead to the two possible locations. Draven and the rest of the group make their way to a central meeting point. Several hours pass and both scouts return, together. Amere smiles "We got them. I was on my way back and I happened across Lisette so I brought her back too." Draven stands "Alright everyone, let's go make some new friends."


	6. Chapter 6

Errissa looks at the modest camp, where she sees the grey warden, a tall, black haired man with warden armor and a large shield at his side. Scattered at different corners of the camp was; a dark haired woman wearing almost nothing, a grey haired older woman in witch robes, a red head in leather armor, a dwarf in black Legion of the Dead armor, a dwarven merchant and his possible son, a mabari hound and most worrisome of all was a Qunari. Quite the little group. Errissa already felt at home. Draven walks out into the opening and everyone else follows suit except for Lisette, who remains on her tree perch. The warden's group goes on sudden alert, grabbing up their weapons as a precaution. The leader steps forward "I am Warden Jacob Cousland. State your business here." Draven tilts his head a little "The Cousland family of Highever?" The warden nods and Draven chuckles "I'm with the Midnight Crows, I'm Draven. I helped your father out about 4 months back with a bandit problem. How is Bryce?" The warden sighs "Sadly, my family was slain, following an attack on our manor." He sheathes his sword and Draven nods his head "He was a great man. Maker be with him." Jacob folds his arms "How did you find us and what do you want of us?" Draven returns his intense glare then chuckles "Oh, Teyrn Logain sent us to kill you." This puts the warden's entire party on edge, in turn Errissa reaches for her staff but Neros puts a hand on her arm as Draven continues "Obviously I don't intend on doing that. I just thought I should be straightforward with you." Jacob forces Alistair to lower his sword. "You could of led with something that sounded less like a threat." Draven chuckles "Oh come now, I'm merely testing your reflexes. No, if you should know anything about my organization it is that I only work for the right people and for the right reasons. I don't get mixed up in politics, I don't take care of someone's baggage, and I certainly do not snuff out people because they are an inconvenience. You have nothing to fear from me Warden."

After introductions were taken care of, the two groups sit around and mostly converse. Errissa gravitates towards the only face she recognizes. She smiles at Morrigan as she walks over to her private little campfire "Aneth ara. I see you still prefer your seclusion." Morrigan puts her hands on her hips "Call it a natural reflex. I feel like avoiding people is just a survival tactic. Once you get to know Alistair better you will see why." Errissa giggles "I remembered you were rather social when I was around. Your mother still around?" Morrigan chuckles "Yes, sadly. Old crone won't die." Errissa smirks "They don't call her Asha'belannar as a simple title." Morrigan sits down next to the fire "A pity, that. So, what brings you in the company of a band of mercs instead of a clan of Dalish?" "Last Dalish clan I travelled with was slaughtered." "I believe that makes 5 now. Is it difficult?" "It is. Knowing my people are slowly being killed off. Having all this power and fate has its way every time." Morrigan nods before hesitantly saying "Do they know about you?" "No, they don't know about my abilities. Well, the Qunari knows that I can subconsciously read minds. Morrigan, my power to read minds doesn't come from the fade." Morrigan goes wide eyed "How can you be sure?" Errissa sits across from Morrigan, hand running through the grass absently "I saw into the mind of a dwarf." Morrigan nods "Eventually you will have to tell them." Errissa shrugs "I would rather they find out."

Draven and Jacob conversed all night about the plan going forward. Jacob needed to secure the Urn of Sacred ashes, and secure Redcliff from an apparent undead outbreak. He was also hoping to look into a lead about a golem in the Village of Honnileth and secure a fortress known as Soldier's peak. Last but not least, Jacob was eager to travel to Ostagar and attempt to recover the body of the king. Draven figured that the most effective way to split up these tasks was to send out groups of Draven's mercs with some of Jacob's fighters. All three being Grey Warden, Jacob, Maxis and Alistair would travel together to Ostagar. All three dwarven berserkers would be the ones to secure Redcliff and stem the tide of undead. Errissa, Neros and Sten would travel to Haven to look into the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Draven wanted to look into Soldier's peak himself, electing to take Amere, the mabari Barkspawn and Morrigan with him. This left Wynne, Leliana and Lisette to look into the golem and possible ally in Honnileth. In the morning the groups all separate and Errissa smiles up at Neros "Traveling with you is always fun." But Neros doesn't return her smile, and as they walk together towards their destination she feels something is off. She nudges him gently "What is up big guy?" He shrugs and she laughs "Don't try to pass it off like it is nothing, I'm not falling for that nonsense." Neros growls "Okay but keep your voice low." He checks to make sure Sten is still following at a fair distance before uttering "I found out from the warden's reports that I was reading that a dragon could be roosting outside the tomb of the Urn of Sacred Ashes." Errissa nods a little, shrugging "And?" "And, I'm afraid of dragons." Errissa laughs and he puts a finger to his lips "Keep it down." Errissa smirks "The big bad Neros, afraid of a witty bitty dragon." Sten walks between them, nudging past them "Now is not the time for idle conversations. And Neros." Neros looks at Sten, already knowing what is coming and bracing himself for the inevitable joke "If we run into a dragon Neros, I will protect you." Sten chuckles a little, the first time that Errissa had seen him show any emotion.


	7. Chapter 7

Sten looks around Haven, growling after the group was reluctantly admitted into the town by the gate guard "Asking around after a religious artifact that most likely does not exist. Splendid. Why was I sent?! Why am I wasting my time?" Errissa folds her arms "If this Urn exists it will be vitally important for assisting the dying Arl of Redcliffe. Were Teryn Logain not such a royal pain, we would not be here. But the Arl will help us put an end to his nonsense." Sten turns and faces forward "Very well. Lead on." Errissa walks through the village looking around. She walks to a large temple and smiles "Best place to start is a church." Neros frowns "Religious, pious weirdos. Great." Errissa chuckles as she looks at Neros and Sten "I felt like a fish out of water, but then I realized I was accompanied by two giants." Sten snarls "We prefer the term Qunari." Neros chuckles "You can call me whatever you want Emma Lath." Sten glares at Neros and Errissa continues into the church, where she is greeted by a lovely site. The head of the church and about 6 of his elite guards, prepared for battle. Father Eirik walks forward and smirks as he draws his sword "I don't tolerate outsiders, especially so close to the rebirth of the most revered!" Errissa tilts her head "What nonsense are you droning on about?" Eirik points his sword at her "Kill them." Neros cracks his knuckles "Ha, a fight. I was getting bored."

The one sided slaughter concluded with Sten nodding in respect to Neros as Neros pulled his sword from the body of Father Eirik, grabbing up his medallion. Errissa puts her hand on the fake wall and pushes the stone wall open, where she finds Brother Genitivi. He stands and smiles "Thank the maker, I'm finally found. Weylon must have sent you." Errissa frowns "According to my reports, Weylon was killed, sadly." Genitivi nods a little "I'm assuming that you are after the ashes." Errissa nods "Can you help us?" Brother Genitivi nods "I know where the temple is. If you haven't already, you need to grab Father Eirik's medallion. It opens the door to the ruined temple." Neros holds out the amulet and Genitivi nods "That's the one. Follow me." They continue together towards the temple on the mountainside. Errissa hugs herself, her robes not meant for the cold. Neros smirks and throws a coat around her shoulders "Good thing I planned ahead and grabbed something in town." Errissa smiles "You are always the one who is one step ahead, huh?" He nods and she giggles "I'm glad someone is always prepared."

The group of three made short work of the temple bandits and their religion crazed leader. Neros looks up at the dragon as it flies overhead and shutters "I'm not liking this." It lands and it lies down, going to sleep. Neros nods "Good. Now lets just slip past it." Errissa nods a little and Sten stares up at it "No, we fight it." Errissa frowns and looks at the horn she got from Kolgrim "Perhaps its best to avoid the killer beast." Sten shakes his head "That dragon will pose a great threat if it is not eliminated." Errissa nods "Good point." Neros draws his sword and groans "No, that's a terrible point." Errissa blows on the horn and the dragon leaps down from its roost, agitated from being awoken. Errissa arms both men with barriers and swords sheathed in ice. Sten runs to its side as Neros runs right through its fire breath. Sten drags his sword down its side, cutting it open before being knocked away by its clawed arm. Neros attempts to slash at its face and it throws its head to one side, knocking him into one of the sulfur pits. Errissa fires lightning from her staff to stun it then forms a barrier for herself as it breathes fire at her. Sten leaps on its side and sinks his blade into it, and it takes off into the air, shaking him loose and he falls several feet, landing on his back. The dragon attempts to land on top of him but he rolls clear at the last second.

Neros looks over at Errissa "Any ideas?" She nods "Keep distracting it! I need time to focus!" Neros rushes in close and he uses his Arvaraad ability to form an anti-magic shield which deflects the dragonfire. He uses this to close in, thrusting his blade into the dragon's mouth. Sten attempts to leap on its back from behind but he is swatted off to the side and he slides off the edge of the cliff "Sten!" Neros loses concentration and the dragon attempts to eat him. He uses his strength to hold the jaws of the beast open, but Neros sees the pouch of flammable liquid in its throat that it uses to breathe fire and he prepares himself for the inevitable. A tear in the Veil suddenly appears and a large hand made of Veil energy grabs the dragon by its throat and squeezes. Neros leaps out of its mouth and the dragon thrashes against the hand that had its grip locked around its throat. Errissa squeezes her own hand then flicks her wrist, the hand mimicking these movements and snapping the dragon's neck easily. Neros pants and grins over at her "That was impressive. Didn't know you- Oh shit Sten!" He runs to the cliffside and Sten is hanging off the side of the cliff, his sword embedded deep in the cliffside "I could use a hand, if you don't mind."


	8. Chapter 8

Maxis, Jacob and Alistair made the slow trek to Ostagar. For the most part, all three were quiet. Alistair looks over at Maxis "I remember you. You were on the battlefield." Maxis looks over at him "And you were not." Alistair nods a little "Not by my choice, believe me." Maxis stops as they near the battlefield, her eyes wide as she takes in the bloody scene and recalls the battle. Her scars ache and she draws her sword. Jacob looks over at her "Are you going to be ok?" Maxis snarls a little and snaps "I'm fine!" Alistair chuckles a little "Woah, hostile." Jacob sighs "This isn't the time Alistar. Alright, let's get down there and clear out the darkspawn, then we can work on recovering the King's body and securing any equipment that was left behind." Maxis sighs as she takes the lead "We should of brought more backup. There are a lot of them down there." Jacob shakes his head "No. We should be fine. If you charge through the biggest concentration of them and thin them out we can worry about mopping up the rest of them. Come on, we are Grey Wardens, this is what we do for a living."

Maxis slams back a genlock with her shield, before decapitating a Hurlock and charging through their ranks. As the surprised darkspawn turn towards her as she charges through them they are cut down by Jacob and Alistair. The three group up, surrounded on all sides, shield and sword held at the ready. Maxis yells out a battlecry and she snarls in a frightening, primal way, intimidating the near mindless darkspawn, but only for a second. The darkspawn surround them and eye their prey, neither sure on how to make the first move. "Okay, maybe we should of brought more backup." Whispered Jacob to Maxis, and she grins wide "Oh no, this is exciting. I cannot wait to tear into these monsters." He motions to them with his sword "Okay, we hold them back! No advancing, no retreating!" An alpha walks to the front of the pack in front of Maxis and she nods to it "Lets go big guy." The alpha charges at her and she deflects it's axe strike to one side and cuts it in half, the rest of the darkspawn charging in. Fighting so close to each other, they ran a risk of injuring each other so Jacob calls out "Advance a foot or two but don't let them pass you!" Alistair yells out as he cuts down a Hurlock but a well timed arrow hits his side. Maxis runs to him, cutting down a Hurlock attempting to land a finishing blow, and Jacob runs over to cover her, the two standing with their backs to each other, protecting Alistair as he removes the arrow and applies a healing salve to his wound.

The three warriors stand in the middle of the battlefield, now littered with the bodies of the darkspawn after a half hour of non-stop fighting. Alistair and Jacob are both exhausted, and Maxis is winded but still holding. Jacob looks up at her "You sure you are not part Qunari?" Alistair chuckles "Or part demon?" Maxis grins "For your information boys, I have trained for many years in armor heavier than typical armor, so it has made me much stronger as a result. I've climbed mountains in that armor and conditioned my body accordingly. I am the perfect front line soldier and the ultimate warrior." Alistair pushes off his one knee, standing and steadying himself "Well, you are not short on confidence, that much has been confirmed." Maxis gives him a fake smile and then turns and looks up at the horrid sight that was the king's defiled corpse, hung for all to see. "Those monsters know no morals, that much is clear. As deformed and defiled his body is, cremation is the only option." Alistair sighs and nods, looking over at Jacob who gives a quick prayer to the maker. All three pray for the passing of King Cailan before setting his mangled body alight.

Salvador sits down at the bar next to Oghren, who is downing a pint of beer "Is that the human piss water, or a dwarven stout?" Oghren smirks and takes another gulp "Piss water. I'm on a budget." Salvador chuckles "They say money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you booze and that's pretty damn close." Oghren laughs and finishes his mug "By the Stone, that's the smartest thing I ever heard someone say!" He slams down his mug and Salvador laughs, waving the bartender over "Two of your strongest mugs!" The bartender pours them a beer that is black in appearance, and they both look at it "What's it called bartender?" He chuckles "Only the best damn drink. It's the Frozen Tundra stout beer. Ice mages freeze all the water in it, so its much more alcoholic." Olgren smirks "Alright then, I'm up for this. What about you Salvador-" Olgren grins as Salvador takes a big gulp from one of them. "Cheeky bastard started without me." Olgren reaches for the other mug and Salvador pulls it away "No, these are both for me. I'm a double fisted drinker." Olgren clenches his fists "And I'm a double fisted fighter." Salvador slides him the beer "Relax, relax, I'm only playing with you." The two drink together for a while, cracking jokes and laughing. The few patrons in the bar left. Even with the undead constantly pouring in, those that were not sick, injured or fighting were drinking. Salvador smiles as he imagines his sister fighting side by side with him. Nothing beats having a sibling. The way she taunted him. You better push harder if you plan on keeping up. Olgren grunts and shakes his head, nearly dozing off for a second "Waddid you say?" Salvador chuckles and punches him in the arm playfully "I din't you drunk." Olgren shoves him and they both fall out of their bar stools onto the floor. Olgren helps Salvador stand "We neeed… um… need to check on stuff. Wassit we was doin?" Salvador chuckles "Gonna kill the dead. Again."

The two drunk dwarves stumble out into the town center as a new wave approaches from the castle. Helga looks over at them and smiles "You guys rested up and ready to help-" She frowns, then puts her hands on her hips "You are both completely wasted aren't you?" Salvador smirks and he uses his sword for support "I fight better drunk and you know it!" Olgren burps "Hey there be-a-u-tea-full." Helga looks at him disgusted and Salvador pushes him over "That's my sis you id… idiot." As the undead draws closer, Salvador raises his sword "Fight time!" and cuts through the first two he encounters. He stumbles a little, but his body manages to stay upright as he cleaves his way through the group. With a swath cut through the middle of the crowd the townspeople manage to cut down the remaining. Salvador, having run through the crowd swinging like a mad man, passes out from the alcohol and the exhaustion.


	9. Chapter 9

Maxis, Alistair and Jacob were the first back to their predetermined camping spot. A few hours later, Leliana, Wynne and Lisette arrived with a golem in tow who went by Shale. Maxis walks over to Shale and whistles "Neros will be jealous, you are taller and much bulkier than he is." Shale chuckles "I am also much bigger than the puny female human in front of me." Maxis folds her arms "I could take you. Name a time and a place." Jacob nudges Maxis aside "Hello Shale. I am Grey Warden Jacob Cousland. I'm glad you agreed to join my party. If you require anything feel free to ask." Shale nods "It is good to feel respected. No, I do not require anything other than the occasional assistance driving off the flying demonic pests. Damnable birds." Draven returns with Morrigan, Barkspawn and Amere and Draven hands Jacob a slip of paper "This is the deed to the Grey Warden Fortress of Soldier's Peak." Jacob nods "Now, we just need to await the arrival of Neros, Sten and Errissa with the ashes, so that we can figure out what kind of mess awaits us at the castle." Upon the return of Errissa and company, Draven gathers everyone "Alright guys, plan time. I want to send Maxis, Leliana, Wynne and Neros to the Redcliff castle, to secure it and to aid the Arl. In the meantime, the rest of us need to try to slow the approach of the darkspawn horde. They are nearly upon us and soon Ferelden will be swallowed up by it." Amere chuckles, leaning against a tree "I guess I missed the part of my contract that said suicide missions are mandatory." Draven folds his arms "Anyone that wants to leave the group, I completely understand. Just know that regardless of whether or not you stay, everyone in Ferelden is threatened by the blight. And you will have to fight back against it. It's best to be amongst friends when that time comes."

With Arl Eamon back on his feet (His son was possessed by a demon, what a twist.) the Arls would finally convene at the Landsmeet, to decide the fate of Teryn Loghain, and Fereldan. Before the Landsmeet there was one last piece of business to attend to. Jacob walks up to Draven "Before we attend this Landsmeet, we need to go kill Arl Howe and rescue Queen Anora." Draven folds his arms "In that order specifically? Damsels in distress usually take top billing." Jacob chuckles "Well, seeing as how Howe is the reason my parents are dead, I figured I would see to it that he be eliminated." Draven nods "So, where, when, and who?" Jacob scratches his chin "The arl of Denerim's estate, and later tonight. As for who, I am not sure. I'm thinking you, me, Alistair and Maxis." Draven shakes his head "We should take one of our mages. Preferably Errissa or Wynne." Jacob nods "We need to stick with a group of 4, to prevent drawing attention, so let's take Wynne and Maxis." Draven nods "Agreed." Jacob smirks "Under one condition. We find Howe, I get to kill him." Draven puts up his hands "Don't let me get in the way of your vengeance man."

A large crowd had gathered outside the Arl of Denerim's estate, for whatever reason, so the 4 snuck around the side, with Anora's maid in tow. Her maid hid a trunk of uniforms in the bushes at the side of the building, and they all quickly change into guard armor. The maid stays outside as the four pass into the side entrance, walking through the fortress and trying not to draw attention to themselves. Wynne has her staff, which appears odd, but many don't pay her any mind anyway. They make it to the room that the queen is being held in, only to find it is sealed by a barrier. Wynne puts her hand close to the barrier "This is a powerful barrier. The only way to get past it would be to kill the sorcerer who made the barrier in the first place. Chances are, Rendon Howe would have his 'key' close at hand." Draven nods "And knowing Howe, he is downstairs, tending to his prisoners." Wynne nods and they navigate through the maze of hallways, before descending into the basement. They walk to separate cages, letting the prisoners free. One crazed Templar gives Draven a note, for a beloved he assumed. Draven looks in the cages of the less fortunate. Howe was a monster, and he could not be allowed to live.

As the group found themselves in the chamber that Howe was in, they found him waiting with two of his mages, and a few of his men. Draven smiles "You were expecting us." Howe nods "Yes, well, I had inside information. A friend of yours." He motions to the corner and Amere walks out, tossing a throwing knife in the air and catching it. "Hello, Boss." Draven smirks "You sly bastard. You switched sides on me?" Amere shrugs "Oh, you know how it goes. I need to pick the winning side. What is going to stop the blight? A group of hopefuls or a fucking army lead by a damned General?!" Draven draws his daggers "So, that's where you bolted off to in the night. I prepared for this instance, don't worry." Amere growls "Your stupidity and overconfidence is reason alone to want to kill you." Maxis charges into Howe's soldiers, Jacob and Howe fighting as Amere and Draven exchange blows with their daggers. Draven easily keeps pace with Amere, until Amere tosses a dagger in the air, blasting Draven back with a fireball and catching his dagger. Draven reaches in his pouch and throws several small elemental mines, exploding all around Amere and he is shrouded in smoke. When the smoke clears, a magic shield protects Amere. Draven stands and frowns "Damn. No good."

Amere holds both his hands together firing a powerful cone of lightning, Draven rushing around to dodge. Amere hits one of Howe's mages, who was engaged in a long range battle with Wynne. Draven runs to the other mage, throwing a dagger at the mage, hitting his leg and making him stumble. Draven wraps his arms around the mage's neck and uses him as a shield, alarming Howe "Amere, don't let him kill that mage!" Jacob goes for a thrust and Howe barely manages to parry it, leaping back and using a shadow pellet to drop into stealth. Draven smirks at Amere "Come on, do it." Amere smirks and draws a throwing dagger, throwing it hard as he could just to Draven's right, hitting Howe in the chest. Howe collapses to one knee "I don't… I don't understand." Draven slits the mages throat and Amere chuckles "To be honest, I was supposed to kill you hours ago. But I wanted to shake things up a little. Plus, there were too many guards for me to make my move and get away without being noticed." Draven folds his arms "Come on man, you could of killed all of them, no sweat. Why the elaborate ruse? Though, I did quite enjoy our little sparring match." Amere shrugs "Sometimes, the job is so easy, I'm forced to find ways to entertain myself." Maxis sighs "Idiots." Jacob walks to Howe "I don't know what just happened-" He decapitates Howe. "But, I honestly don't care. What's done is done." As they make their way out, however, they ran into some of Loghain's elites. Ser Caulthrin stops them "Warden Jacob, you are charged with the death of Arl Howe! I am going to take you in. Either surrender, or we shall slay you and your friends here. There is no use running, more soldiers await you outside." Jacob growls "Damn. I don't want to have to kill you. You are all being misled by Loghain! I will expose him. But I have no interest in taking your lives." He drops his sword and shield.

Maxis, Draven, Amere and Wynne stand outside the estate "Total war is upon us, and the one man we need just got thrown in the Denerim dungeons. Perfect." Draven folds his arms and sits on the ground "I find it odd they didn't take us. Probably would be too difficult to handle all 5 of us at once. I need to regroup with the frontlines. So, Maxis and Amere, I'm leaving it to you to break him out and get him to the Landsmeet. In the meantime, Wynne, you need to start warning the people of the darkspawn horde. I'm sending back a few of the guys to help round up and protect the civilians." Wynne nods "With pleasure." She hurries off towards the market square. Amere clears his throat "How am I going to break him out exactly?" Draven grins "After that unnecessary ruse, you are asking me for creative direction?" Amere nods "Fair enough. Alright then, we shall regroup later." Maxis nods to Draven "Don't die." Draven chuckles "Don't worry, no chance of that happening."

Maxis looks at the guards to the gate and Amere smirks "Allow me to do the talking." Maxis nods and he walks towards them "Excuse me gentlemen. I believe that we have a shipment here for you. Our caravan is just outside. I just need someone to sign for it." One folds his arms "Commander didn't say nothin' bout a delivery." Amere chuckles "Guess you are not in the loop." Maxis takes a step forward "Seriously, does he even pay you guys enough. You are the first line of defense against invaders, you need better hazard pay." The other guard smirks "Nothin' getting in here, and no one would even try missy." Maxis knees him in the groin, her metal shin plate hitting his metal crotch protector. The guard falls over and Amere stabs the other guard in the stomach. "We were going to avoid killing, remember? We need as many of Denerim's soldiers to protect Denerim." Amere shrugs "It's just a paralytic poison. Besides, that guy you struck won't be back on his feet for weeks." She shrugs "He called me missy." The two walk into the prison and Maxis manages to stick to the shadows well, following Amere as he skirts around the guards and he makes his way to Jacob's cell. Jacob grins "Hey, you guys came. Good to see you. What is the plan?" Amere scratches his chin "I was hoping not to kill people." Jacob nods "Then we beat some sense into them and make our escape."


	10. Chapter 10

Neros hears the call to battle as the Darkspawn horde makes its way out of the Briccilian forest. Not much further and the horde would be knocking on Denerim's gate. Thinning them out here would save hundreds of lives, if not more, so Neros lets out a battlecry, charging with the soldiers Arl Eamon had given to the cause and the dwarven warriors Orzammar had given to the cause as well. The elves had given the darkspawn hell when it was in their territory, but now even the elven archers had fallen back quite far, leaving all the fighting to the frontline defense. Neros wished Maxis was there to assist. That woman could turn the tide of any darkspawn battle. The elemental sigils left by the mages trigger, and the front line of the darkspawn are hit with multiple elements at once, causing complete chaos on the front line just as Neros and the other warriors met them head on. They cut down the advancing force, with Neros' massive blade slicing through multiple darkspawn at once. Neros deflects the axe of an alpha, cutting him down, and cuts through several Hurlock, when the crowd parts and an ogre runs right at Neros. Neros barely has time to react, the ogre punches him back far and he slides across the ground. The ogre crouches low and charges at Neros, and Neros stands, sidestepping it and slashing at the back of its leg. It stumbles and nearly falls on its face, before turning back to him. Neros takes a sword slash to the back and turns to cut down his attacker, turning back to the ogre in time to narrowly avoid its crushing overhand blow. It sweeps its hand at him and kicks up dust right at his face, distracting him long enough for it to grab him up in its hand. Neros glares at the beast as it squeezes him, not wanting to give it the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. It squeezes him tightly and he looks out of the corner of his eye to see the horde overrunning all of the other soldiers, before it crushes him hard enough to shatter his ribs. He cries out in agony, and then roars in rage. It pulls him close to its face and roars right back at him. First mistake, last mistake. The visage of a dragon's claw envelops his hand and he slashes the throat of the ogre, his wounded body falling to the ground as its hand loosens its grip and it tries to hold in its own blood as it gushes out of the gashes on its throat. He smirks "That's… why… you don't mess with Qunari" He coughs up blood and closes his eyes. "Ebassam Hissera, Errissa."

Leliana, Morrigan, Barkspawn and Oghren fought on the frontlines, protecting Redcliff village from darkspawn assault. Salvador, Helga, Lisette and Sten held the castle against invasion. The darkspawn made easy enough foes, but their relentless assault and their reckless abandon made them a truly terrifying horde. Morrigan transforms into a spider and mauls one of them, tearing it apart and shooting venom at another, hitting it in the face and blinding it. She switches back, releasing a cone of fire to burn several of them, her barrier taking a hit from an arrow. She grabs a Hurlock by the throat and burns it with Virulent Bomb, shoving him into the group. His death and subsequent explosion of spiritual energy causes a wicked chain reaction. An ogre is wounded but not killed by this explosion and rushes right at Morrigan. Leliana fires an arrow right into its eye, with Barkspawn tearing into the back of its leg and bringing it to one knee, allowing Oghren to impale the beast through the chest and carve it open. Oghren and Leliana help protect Morrigan as she needs time to gather mana for her next onslaught, wanting to save her lyrium potions for an emergency. Lisette rained arrows upon the group pushing towards the castle, each arrow hitting a mark and wounding or killing a darkspawn. The combined might of the two dwarves and the Qunari easily overpowered all opposition. After about a half hour of defending the village, the horde broke away, turning in the direction of Denerim. Morrigan rushes to Sten's group "I'm going to shapeshift and get ahead of the group to warn the Warden, stay here. Returning simply isn't safe. But, if you insist on wanting to help, at least two of you should stay to help defend this village. I leave that to you seven to decide."

Jacob's Appearance at the Landsmeet was met with glares and sharp gasps. Then, Jacob spoke to the nobles, appealed to them and he brought them to his side. Loghain had made a mistake, turning his back on the king, and the rest of the nobles saw him for what he was. Shamed in front of the nobles of Fereldan, Jacob had Loghain at his mercy. Jacob draws his sword "I think it only proper that the traitor fight for his honor against the man he attempted to frame." No one objected, and Loghain draws his sword and pulls out his shield. "So be it, the Landsmeet shall decide the terms of this duel." One of the nobles call down "This fight shall be traditional rules, both will fight until one yields." Morrigan walks up next to Jacob and whispers something in his ear before rejoining the party. Jacob nods and draws his sword, rapping his sword against his shield "Lets go Loghain. There is an army of darkspawn awaiting me once I'm done with you." Loghain runs right at Jacob and the two slam their shields into each other, leaping back a step and their swords meet. They exchange blows, the sound of ringing metal echoing through the room. Loghain blocks with his shield, knocking Jacob's sword away from him. Jacob blocks his followup attack with his shield, slamming into Loghain and knocking him down before retreating back to grab his sword. As their swords clashed repeatedly, it became clear that this was a battle of attrition. Unfortunately, this gave the young Grey Warden a clear advantage. In a battle, Grey Wardens could fight much longer than the average human. It's one thing they gained through the taint, and this is evident and amplified in a warden like Maxis.

Jacob realizes he can easily keep pace with Loghain, switching to a defensive stance. Loghain's attacks become more frantic as he realizes he is burning through his stamina and he smiles "Your order produced nothing but failures, and you're a perfect example. You can't even land a blow on me. I will defeat you!" Loghain's sword hits Jacobs shield and he spins around Loghain's sword side, slashing him across the back and cutting a gash into the plate, wounding Loghain but not badly. Loghain drops to one knee but stands back up, turning to face his enemy. Jacob drops his shield and holds his sword with both hands, forcing Loghain to block his every swing with his shield, not allowing Loghain any room to breathe. Loghain is quickly forced back and when he tries to deflect the blow aside with his shield Jacob takes this opening to kick him in the chest and knock him down, holding his blade to the traitor's throat. Loghain holds up his hands "I surrender. It is clear to all that I am outmatched." Jacob backs off, Loghain standing and dropping his sword and shield, making no further attempt to attack the Warden. This leaves the whole congregation in shock. One of them cries out "Who will rule us now?!" They begin to murmur amongst themselves, and this murmuring quickly becomes demands, questions and frantic shouting. Jacob takes off his right armored glove and takes the hand of Anora "Do not fear, Fereldan shall have a rightful king and queen! But now is not the time for panic. The beasts that aim to take our land from us will soon be knocking at our door. All those who cannot fight must take shelter. All those who can fight, Maker watch over us." He turns to Loghain "As for you, haul him to the dungeon. I don't want to worry about taking a knife to the back while fighting an archdemon."

Draven points to the map of Denerim "Dwarven berserkers should secure the Alienage, mages with the elven in the residential district, and the Arl's men securing the main fort." Jacob shakes his head "We should send the elven into the alienage." Draven shakes his head "Tight spaces are perfect for the close combat fighters. And any surprise tactics the darkspawn attempt to utilize would be negated by the sheer tenacity and power of the berserkers." Jacob nods "And range fighters can easily control the tide of the battle in the residential district." Draven nods "Exactly. Elves are great stealth fighters, but even better archers as a whole." Draven hands the orders to the messengers, one for each war party, before turning to Errissa, who walks up to Draven and holds out Neros' sword "I couldn't get to him in time." Tears stream down her cheeks and Draven puts a hand on her shoulder "He will be missed. Look, Errissa, I need you to help the Arl's men defend Fort Drakon. Are you going to be able to fight?" She looks up at him, fists clenched "I am ready, and I will not falter now! Neros would want me to fight by your side and protect the people he gave his life for. Damn those darkspawn. We will drive them back down into the hole they crawled out of!" Draven nods "Good to know you are still with us. Be careful."


	11. Chapter 11

As the darkspawn passed through the gates the initial horde was caught off guard by Draven's placed mines, allowing him to cut them down with his dual swords, slashing through one and leaping in the air, spinning like a top, blades extended, slicing through several more. He leaps back and throws another prepared batch of mines, detonating and killing many more darkspawn, amazing everyone as he holds the frontline by himself. He throws a volley of daggers and kills 3 more, his prenatural reflexes allowing him to dodge an arrow that flies right past his head. He blocks the overhead axe swing of a charging Alpha and slashes its chest open, carving off one of its arms, and then cleaving it in four with an x shaped dual strike. Some darkspawn slip past him, then he drops into stealth as he becomes surrounded, a poison bomb going off right in the middle of the horde. The disoriented darkspawn run right into Sten and Helga, who had returned from Redcliff with Leliana and Lisette, leaving Barkspawn, Oghren and Salvador in Redcliff. Helga couldn't help but laugh when she imagined how bored her brother must be. Sten takes an arrow to the chest and when he is staggered from the shot a Hurlock tries to strike him down from behind, only to take an arrow from Leliana, who used her mobility to cross rooftops and engage the darkspawn. Lisette becomes visible next to Leliana and Leliana smirks at her, readying her bow "Good luck keeping up." Lisette sticks her tongue out and the two begin to rain arrows upon their opposition. Darkspawn throw firebombs at the two and they leap back in unison, landing on another rooftop and running side by side, leaping from roof to roof until they can get another clear shot.

Shale was impressed by the dwarven warriors. For squishy little humans, they were very tough. The darkspawn were fun, squishy things to punch. One well aimed punch to the head and the Hurlock's jaw flew into the face of another Hurlock. For their part, the dwarves kept their distance from Shale. This gave Shale room to move and fight. She spins and backhands a Hurlock Alpha, taking its head completely off. She grabs a Genlock up by its head and throws it into an ally. She punches back a Hurlock, kicks a Genlock aside and then turns to the charging ogre, grabbing it by its horns to slow it to a stop, her feet skidding but she manages to stop the beast, uppercutting it and stunning the beast. Shale launches a series of lefts and rights into the stomach and chest of the ogre, activating the crystals in her arms which causes every punch to torch the skin of the ogre. The ogre collapses and Shale slams her fists in the ground repeatedly to knock back the Genlocks and Hurlocks surrounding her. Shale walks towards the Alpha Emissary. The Emissary fires a fireball at Shale who shrugs it off, Shale picking up a boulder and throwing it at the Emissary. The Emissary blasts it apart, launching a barrage of fire bolts at Shale. Shale shrugs off its magic attacks, running towards it. As a last resort, the Emissary tries to blast Shale with a cone of fire. Shale runs through the fire, lining up her most powerful attack and punching the Emissary apart when her fist connects with the Emissary's fragile body.

Maxis fought alongside Amere, defending the mages from the invading forces. An ogre lumbers towards them and Maxis raps her sword against her shield to draw its attention, smiling and letting out a battlecry. She blocks a strike from behind with her shield, spinning to cut down her target, rolling to the side to avoid the ogre's charge, who does more damage to his own allies than anything else. On it's next charge Maxis tries to take a swing at it, but narrowly gets hit by the ogre in return. She stands in front of an abandoned building, rapping her shield and grinning "Lets go!" The ogre rushes right at her and she rolls between its legs, cutting one of its legs and it crashes into the building. Amere, for his part, kept the darkspawn at bay and away from Maxis' fight with the brute. Amere cuts down one with his sword, blasting another one back with a lightning bolt. He jumps in the air and the darkspawn do not notice the firebomb left at their feet. It detonates, lighting several darkspawn on fire, and Amere lands inside the fire. He raises his hand and the fire begins to take the shape of a dragon's head, and he lowers his hand, the dragon's maw descending upon and lighting on fire every darkspawn it touches. The fire fades and Amere looks physically exhausted, but he rushes to the aid of a mage, carving the Hurlock in half from behind. He turns to Maxis "Get these people to the fort. I'll take care of these darkspawn!" Maxis snarls "Don't do anything stupid!" Amere picks up a staff of a fallen mage, and Maxis shouts at him "I said don't do anything stupid!" Amere waves her off urgently "Move damn it!" Maxis runs with the mages to the southern part of the courtyard that the elves were holding against waves of darkspawn. Amere lifts the staff and yells out, and with one sweep of the staff he summons an advancing wave of ice, freezing the northern passageway, along with many darkspawn and several buildings. He teleports atop this wave, the staff spinning in the air in front of him and he summons bolts of lightning from the sky that hits his staff and is refracted, causing 3 to 4 smaller bolts to be shot down at the crowd, blasting apart the darkspawn as they attempt to retreat, to find another way around.

Errissa can see the smoke, and hear the fighting. No, she didn't just hear it, she felt it. The Veil cracked with every drop of blood that was spilled, tainted or otherwise. A few stragglers that had managed to clear the impressive offense that Draven organized regrouped only to be picked off by the fort's wall archers. The Fort was easy to hold, until the Archdemon made its presence felt, flying overhead and firing a fireball infused with its tainted magic at the fort's walls, killing several of the archers. It rained fire indiscriminately down upon the city and made another pass towards the fort when a Warden they rescued from Arl Howe's dungeon leaps onto the side of the archdemon mid-flight, gouging it and wounding the beast, which crashes onto the top of the fort. Jacob soon arrives at the Fort with Alistair, Draven and Wynne. Errissa smiles "I'm glad to see you guys made it. Jacob, are you ready to finish this?" Jacob nods "It is time to end this blight."


	12. Chapter 12

Jacob stands opposite the archdemon, Wynne and Draven split up to man the ballista atop the fort. Jacob uses his shield to hold back against the archdemon's fire, and the archdemon its hit in the neck by a ballista bolt. Draven loads another bolt and Wynne fires at the archdemon's side, before it fires a ball of fire at her. She manages to get clear of the ballista just before it explodes. Jacob slashes at its leg to cripple it and it lifts off the ground a little, breathing fire down upon Jacob and Alistair. They shield themselves but Alistair struggles against the strength of the fire and flames lick at their feet, the fire deflecting off their shield then hitting the ground and spreading out in all directions. Draven tries to reset the ballista but one of the mechanisms is jammed, forcing him to run towards another. The demon fires a fireball at Draven and he is caught inside the blast, wounding him. Errissa summons lightning to strike down the archdemon and she manages to ground it on the fort's roof again. Wynne heals Draven, Draven leaping back into the fight to engage the archdemon himself. He uses a shadow pellet to enter stealth and he surprises the archdemon with elemental mines that detonate in its face and around its front legs. He leaps at the demon who raises its head, on instinct or perhaps on accident, avoiding his sword slash to its neck. Draven lands and rolls, turning back towards the archdemon.

Darkspawn begin to swarm the rooftops. Errissa summons a blizzard, enveloping the rooftop in a bone chilling fog, standing in one spot and focusing her power into maintaining the barriers on her comrades so they would not be killed by her attack. A Hurlock manages to catch a glimpse of her and rushes at her, only to be cut in half, by who Errissa could not see. When the archdemon breathes fire from above, however, it manages to severely wound Alistair, Wynne and Jacob. Errissa's spell fades and she drinks a bottle of lyrium, focusing her healing magics on her comrades. She manages to bring them back from the brink, but at a cost to her already waning strength. Draven blocks a sword slash from a Hurlock trying to hit her from behind and she drops her staff "I'm going to end this!" Draven yells out "Only a Grey Warden can kill an Archdemon!" She smiles "Then I suppose I will bring it down to our level." She taps into her fade connection, Draven defending her as she forms two hands out of the sky that grasps onto the bone connecting the archdemon's wings to its side. The hands follow her motions, twisting the base of the wings before ripping them off. The Archdemon screamed out in agony, frightening the darkspawn. The Archdemon attempts to breath fire at the group, its cone of fire much larger than usual, but an anti-magic shield protects Errissa. She smiles knowingly, Jacob slashing its neck, Alistair impaling it through the side and Wynne hitting it with the strongest lightning bolt she could summon. Once the beast was beaten near to the point of no longer moving, Jacob climbs atop its head and slams his sword down through its skull, stepping down and falling to one knee "That was a fun battle, wouldn't you say?" A crow flies overhead and Jacob chuckles, standing back up after he has caught his breath to pull his sword free of the head of the beast.

Anora looks over at her soon to be husband nervously, and his companions as well as the Midnight Crows sit front row at the wedding. Draven looks over at the rest of the group. Errissa sits at the far end, most likely still coping with Neros' death. Leliana and Lisette hold hands, occasionally smiling at each other. Salvador gives mean looks at Oghren, who is flirting with Helga. Maxis and Sten were exchanging idle chatter, with Wynne smacking Amere on his hand as he was talking to Morrigan and making too much noise. Draven smiles and sits back in his chair "I love the peace that follows each war." He sighs and folds his arms. After the wedding, he stands in front of his group of mercenaries, smiling at each of them "So, we go from humble mercenaries to world renown heroes. Not a bad way to end a career." Maxis tilts her head "Excuse me?" Salvador grunts "You kidding? There is work to be done man." Draven shakes his head "At this point there isn't much left for us. So, I'm dropping out of the game and disbanding the group. So, as a show of thanks, I'm giving each of you 50 sovereigns to do with as you wish. I'm retiring to my cabin and I'm going to wait out my days until I'm needed again."


	13. Chapter 13

Years had passed and Maxis wandered south, eliminating the darkspawn threat as she moved from village to village, never staying longer than a month or so. She made a name for herself individually, her trademark armor and legendary skills lead people to refer to her as the Black Death. Maxis left bodies in her wake, making her way to the southern parts of Thedas, drawn there by a hard to distinguish desire. There, she found something she did not expect to see, dwarven ruins leading to the Deep Roads. It was that night, in the shadows of the carved stone entrance that her Calling came to her and she felt the blight was on the verge of consuming her for good. The same impulse that brought her here also told her that she would soon be claimed by the taint inside her. She did not hesitate to enter the cavern, and as she looked across the massive expanse that was the Deep Roads, she sighs and draws her sword at the sight of the sheer number of darkspawn "Momma's home."

Leliana had left behind her life of thievery to join in a chantry cloister, and grow closer to the Maker. And by the Maker's will she saw to it that the archdemon was slain atop Fort Drakon. With the Maker's will done, Leliana would need to devote her life to something. With this in mind, she set out to use her prowess on the battlefield and her skills in stealth and persuasion to start her own spy ring. She quickly gathered contacts, spreading her silent influence across every corner of Thedas. It wasn't until Lisette, her top agent, had prevented an assassination attempt on King Cousland that her organization became known. The assassin in question, Zevran, submitted to her order and served as a fine spy, if not one who was difficult to work with at times. He was very loyal, seeing as how the crows wanted him dead for failure, so she even went as far as faking his death to aid him, making him fiercely loyal to Leliana's cause. The soft sound of boots on carpet tears her attention away from her thoughts and Leliana turns, finding herself in the arms of Lisette. Leliana smiles "You are quiet, but not quiet enough, Emma Lath." Lisette smiles and nuzzles her face in Leliana's neck, making Leliana squirm "Seriously, you just got back from a mission… oh fine then."

Leliana wakes up to find Zevran standing in her room opposite the bed "Now now, if the rest of the group knew you were sleeping with your subordinates, we would be expecting better… compensation." Leliana throws a pillow at him and he smiles, swatting it away "Come now, that was funny." Leliana lays back "You shouldn't be in my private quarters. (a conversation they held frequently, to no avail) Tell me something I want to know." He shakes his head "Nothing you want to hear actually. I uncovered a plot that a large group of organized bandits will be striking a well armed and heavily guarded lyrium shipment." Leliana nods "How large?" He shrugs "I'm not familiar with these things, but the leader says its enough to supply two circle towers for at least a month. So, large." She tilts her head "You got that close to the source?" Zevran smirks "Turns out he is open minded. A pity he was… inept." Leliana lets out a disgusted noise "I'm… not interested in hearing any more Zev." Zevran chuckles "I was kidding, I snuck into their hideout like a true assassin. Also poisoned him. May take a day to actually kill him. It's a secret poison we use in the Crows, to insure we can escape and become scarce before the guy croaks." Leliana smirks "That's good news, but that won't mean they won't still attempt the attack. So, it will fall to us to take action. I'll see to this one personally."

Leliana, Zevran and Lisette are crouched on the branches of trees overlooking the road. They had tried to keep their distance as they watched the cart move. They were afraid that if they aroused too much suspicion the Templars and mages guarding the shipment might identify them as a threat. At the rear of the cart was her two initiate Templar contacts. Scouting ahead was her three elven contacts. The easiest way to deal with this situation without potentially drawing the ire of the Templars would be to rain arrows on their attackers then disappear into the woods. She turns to Zevran "Couldn't you have poisoned their food supply, or something like that?" He shakes his head "Dissolves in alcohol, and it spoils meat. And lets be honest, bandits don't eat their vegetables." Leliana readies her bow as she sees the bandit group bursting through the treeline, making all of the Templars go on high alert. Leliana's group rains arrows upon them and eliminates several of the bandits before the all the Templars were even aware of what was happening. Through the woods behind the strike group came return fire, but without being able to see Leliana and her group, they missed. Leliana's team returned fire and a couple screams told them they hit something. The Templars engaged the bandits as Leliana's people worked to eliminate the archers in the woods. Leliana moves her head to avoid an arrow that flies right past her head, just to have one hit her in the chest and knock her off her tree limb, to the ground 20 feet below where she lands on her back and blacks out.

Leliana wakes up in a bed, her wounds healed but her body is still sore. She puts a hand to her swimming head, struggling to remember the events that led to her being bedridden. She remembers her fall and sits up suddenly, then groans in pain, awaking Lisette, who slept in a chair by her bed. Lisette grabs one of Leliana's hands and puts her other hand to her chest, gently easing her back onto her back. Lisette smiles and kisses her cheek. Leliana sighs and relaxes "So, did the mission still go well?" Lisette nods, tears welling up in her eyes. Leliana smiles "Was I out long? Did you stay here with me the whole time?" She looks over and sees a templar guarding the door. "Where exactly are we?" An older woman in Chantry robes walks in the door to her room and her heart nearly jumps out of her chest. Divine Justinia. By the Maker, it was the Divine herself, here to grace Leliana with her presence. Justinia smiles at Leliana "The mages said you would awaken soon. I am so happy to see you survived. What you did today was truly incredible, you saved many lives. A woman like you deserves praise, while many see the evil uses in skills such as yours, you find ways to use them for the betterment of mankind. I could use a skillful and pure hearted soul like you as my left hand." Leliana goes to speak but passes out from the shock.

Wynne sits in the circle with Morrigan and Errissa. Errissa smiles at both ladies "I'm.,. glad you agreed to this. I know it seems… like a bad idea. But I assure you, I know what I'm doing, I've done it once before." Wynne nods a little "While what you are attempting is akin to blood magic, I trust that you know what you are doing and your intentions are pure." Morrigan smiles across at Errissa "I dare not question your abilities, and as such I see no harm in this. Unless it fails, and we die, which you stated as being a possibility." Errissa smiles "Pragmatic as always." The three mages sit cross legged, meditating and focusing, before all three drink vials of lyrium and enter the Fade. Errissa looks around the Fade, but she is not as amazed by it as Morrigan and Wynne. Wynne gawks "I have seen the Fade in my dreams, but its so vibrant and beautiful in person." Errissa shakes her head "That's just my influence. This is how I always experience the Fade." Morrigan folds her arms "Lucky you. So, now what?" Errissa looks around "I could will his essence to us, but finding him will allow us to save energy which we will need for the final step." Errissa frowns "I can sense him, but…" Morrigan looks at her alarmed "Oh, not this. There is always a downside." Errissa nods "He was a willful spirit, and as such he tried to break the rules to save me from the archdemon. As such, he is now trapped within the thinned Veil." Wynne frowns "Such a thing is possible?" Errissa nods "Where do you think ghosts come from?"

Errissa, Wynne and Morrigan are once again gathered in their circle, this time atop Fort Drakon. Here, death still hung in the air and the torn veil was troubling all three mages, making it more difficult for them to focus. Morrigan takes Errissa's hand, who it turn takes Wynne's hand, who reaches for Morrigan, completing the circle and allowing them to relax as they focus on each other's presence. They drink their lyrium potions before slipping into the Fade. From this side, the torn Veil looked like dark streaks of magic that hung like fog in the air. There, she saw Neros, trapped in the fog, his ethereal form seeming to constantly break apart and reconstruct itself in a never ending loop that left him crying in agony. Being trapped in a tear in the Veil was… horrible. Errissa walks into the tear, and even though she possessed her corporeal form still, she felt the Veil tearing away at her as well, her magic was not enough to protect her from this assault as it tore at her very soul and ebbed away at her magic. She moves quickly, rushing up to Neros, and he turns to her, her hand touching his cheek just as his hand touches her side. She wakes from the Fade, both of them standing together, hand on Neros' cheek still. Energy is drawn from the three women and soon Neros' form becomes solid as they restore life to the fallen warrior. Errissa barely notices both Morrigan and Wynne collapsing. Errissa turns to them both when she notices Neros' alarmed stare. She checks on Morrigan, who's eyes flutter open "I'm… I'm okay." She goes to check on Wynne, checking her pulse then gently shaking the poor woman. She looks over at Morrigan and shakes her head softly.

Draven sleeps in his small cottage, a ceremonial sword on his wall next to his bed, his armor on a stand and he has Neros' sword on his wall as well. As a reminder. Draven stirs, making the assassin freeze in their tracks, but then Draven turns on his side and the assassin creeps closer to him. The assassin prepares to stab Draven through the chest when Draven reaches his hand up to grab the arm of the assassin and he throws himself into his would be killer. The two fight for dominance for almost a minute before Draven manages to slam them into the wall. The moonlight illuminates the face of his assassin, a human female, and a rather beautiful one. She has a very distasteful look plastered on her face and she snarls "It's your time old man, why don't you just die like your little brother?!" Draven grabs his dagger from his nightstand, growling "Flynt? If you dared…" She licks her dagger and smiles "My only regret is he didn't give me enough of a challenge." Draven dodged her thrust but is cut by her followup slash, gouging his arm. He kicks a helmet at her that had fallen in their scuffle and she knocks it away with her free hand and narrowly dodges his thrust attack, only for his followup attack to cut her across the stomach. While the damage was not significant, Draven smiles and blows her a kiss "Good try, sweetheart." She grabs Neros' weapon off the wall and he grabs his ceremonial sword. Their swords clash, she tries to use the weight of the greatsword to overwhelm him but he manages to hold the blade up, pushing back against her, waiting for his moment. He grunts and collapses, making her grin. "Finally. About time your old bones gave out." He clutches his arm as the fire spreads through his veins and his body begins to spasm uncontrollably. The assassin herself also falls over and she desperately clings to her dagger, using it to pull herself closer, desperate to finish the job before finally passing out.

Draven sits up and looks down at the would be assassin. She had poisoned him. But, didn't she lick her own weapon? Apparently in their frantic struggle, she had forgotten and she had poisoned herself. Draven laughs and holds his sore chest. Obviously, she was a bandit turned assassin, this was an intimidation tactic common amongst her kind. A stupid one at that, apparently. But, she was a good fighter at least. She manages to awaken, looking up at Draven "Are you laughing at me?" He nods "Yeah. This little assassination attempt was just… You poisoned yourself!" She blushes a deep red "Yeah, well, I forgot that deathroot extract can leave residue, alright? I'm a little new to this game." Draven stands "Wow they sent you to get killed, you do realize that, right?" She smirks "I had to try. You killed my father." Draven folds his arms "For good reason, most likely. He was a bandit, wasn't he?" She pushes herself to her feet "What of it?!" Draven steps closer to her "Then he deserved it. It falls on people like me to clean up filth like him!" She shoves him and growls "How dare you talk about my father like that!" She punches him desperately on the chest, then her anger becomes depression, and she collapses in a crying heap in his arms.

Salvador, Helga and Oghren sit in the Hanged Man as the bartender gives them another pint each "Alright you three, this is the last one on the house. Heroes or not, you can't just drink all our ale, other people are thirsty too." Salvador smiles "Hey buddy, I ever tell you 'bout the time I fought 20 bandits with one arm and no sword?" Oghren laughs "That's not possible even for me!" Salvador smiles "Punched every one of them in the junk." He grunts and drinks from his pint. Oghren's face scrunches up and he groans "That's not cool." Salvador chuckles "Well, neither was them tying me to a post so they could mess with me. So, what goes around comes around as they say. Besides, at my height I couldn't exactly punch them in the face." Helga giggles "Mighty champion, perfector of the low blow. Very nice." Oghren chuckles "I got a better one. About the time a killed an Ogre Alpha with nothing but a brick." He drinks half his pint in a few gulps, turning to look at Salvador before grinning "I managed to beat him down to size and then bashed his skull in with a brick. True story." Salvador drinks the rest of his drink and chuckles "I still remember the day I killed a dragon with my bare hands." Oghren finishes his pint. "Oh yeah? Well… um… yeah well I slept with your sister!" Salvador glares at him and Helga nearly faints from shock, before Oghren is blasted over the head with a beer mug by Salvador, making him black out.


	14. Chapter 14

Hawke was just entering the bar as Oghren is knocked out. Helga tries to wake him back up as Salvador hops down off his stool "I'll kill you for that you damn dirty drunk!" Helga shoves him back "Salvy, stop!" Salvador growls "How could you, sis?" Hawke puts a hand on Salvador's shoulder "I'm not sure what is going on, but unless you want to explain to the guards why you nearly killed this man, I think you need to step outside for some air." Salvador looked up at the human interferer. He was about 6 feet tall, black and red trimmed robes, a staff on his back, black unruly hair, green eyes and a blood swipe from his right cheek to the left side of his forehead. Intimidating to say the least. Salvador shakes off Hawke's hand, then steps outside, exhaling "Probably for the best that I made it back to my room for the night." Helga looks up at Hawke "Thanks." Hawke folds his arms "Family matters huh? I get it, I have family problems of my own." Hawke's amused smile makes Helga smile a little despite the situation. Helga holds up a hand "I'm Helga, dwarven mercenary and traveling apothecary. Though, for now, I'm stationary." Hawke raises an eyebrow as he shakes her hand "A dwarven apothecary? About how many times a day do you get weird looks for that?" She giggles "Oh you are definitely the first."

The mage and dwarf walked together after she tended to Oghren's head wound. The two guys would need time to cool, and Helga needed time from both of them. Hawke smiles "My buddy Varric will miss me, I promised him a drink. Guess that bastard will be paying for his own tonight." Helga smirks "The storyteller?" Hawke nods "He seems to have grown quite attached to me. Can't say I reciprocate the feelings, though he tells the best campfire stories." Helga smiles "And that crossbow of his. Mmm. Would make anyone in the smith caste go weak in the knees." Hawke chuckles "Very true. Tell me, what brings you to Hightown, the den of inequity?" Helga giggles "This is where I first got my fresh start." Hawke gasps "You should write a book! No one makes it big here. Kirkwall is where dreams go to die." Helga smiles "Ever heard of the Midnight Crows?" He nods "They held Redcliff and Denerim against the darkspawn, during the fifth blight about 5 years or so ago." She nods "I was part of the crows. Me and my brother, the angry one." Hawke folds his arms "I thought angry and drunk were default dwarven emotions?" Helga frowns and then smiles "Oh, that was a joke." Hawke frowns then smiles "Yes, a joke." She tilts her head "I hear you have dealings with the Qunari here." He nods "Apparently they wont leave until they find something important to them. Whatever it is, I would rather not get in their way, wouldn't you agree?" Helga nods a little, remembering what kind of a force of nature Sten and Neros could be.

They end up outside the steps to the Chantry and Hawke turns to her, smiling as Anders sprints up. "Well, my dwarven friend, I'll be seeing you again I hope. I have a meeting with someone important. I bid you farewell." He bows respectfully and Helga smiles, wandering back to her house. Inside, Salvador made it to the couch before passing out, Oghren was already awake and sits in front of the fireplace. Oghren looks over at Helga and smiles "Your brother did not like hearing about our relationship." Helga folds her arms "There are better ways to tell someone about dating their sister, and over drinks is not the best way." Oghren puts his head in his hands "Oh man, I screwed this up didn't I?" Helga smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder "Oh, you haven't screwed it up yet. Salvador respects you and when he realizes how happy you make me, that hard headed bull will back off at some point. I think he lashed out more from shock than anything else, otherwise he would of killed you by now." Oghren chuckles "That's a warming thought." He sighs and stands. "I'm going to beat the crap out of the training dummy for a few, until your brother wakes up."

Salvador and Oghren clashed swords. For the most part, everything was back to normal. Salvador didn't say anything to Oghren as he entered the training hall, merely handed Oghren a sword and the two began training. Oghren was fearful at first until he noticed Salvador holding back, and they set into their usual training pace. Oghren surprised Salvador with a few new moves of his own, Salvador catching Oghren off guard with a pommel strike to the chest, right into his chestplate, knocking him back. Salvador drops his sword and helps him stand "Listen, I respect you a lot. I'm not sorry for hitting you. You are an idiot, and you deserved that. But, if you two love each other, then you just need to remember that I'm her big brother and that I'm not afraid to kill you if you hurt her." Oghren smiles and nods "Thanks man, means a lot coming from you." Salvador pats him on the shoulder "Well then, bro, what do you want to do?" Oghren grins wide "Celebrate, the way all dwarves do." Salvador chuckles "You read my mind."


	15. Chapter 15

Helga hears a knock at the door and opens it, smiling up at Hawke "Hawke, it has been a couple of weeks. What's up?" He frowns "Nothing good I'm afraid. My mother has gone missing." Helga turns to her brother "Hey, Salvy, you seen Hawke's mother recently?" He nods "As a matter of a fact, I saw her with some guy." Helga smiles a little "Ooo, your mother is out getting social it would seem." Hawke nods "Never told me though. Well, if nothing else, I want to make sure she is okay. Lot of people out there don't like me and would attack my family just to reach me." Salvador stands "Yeah, I'll go with you." Helga nods "I will too. I've been wanting to test out my new toy anyway." Hawke smiles "I'll grab Merrill and we will meet in the market, begin our search there." The 4 meet in the market square, Merrill smiling at the two dwarves "I don't think we had the chance to meet yet. I'm Merrill, and I'm friends with Hawke." Helga smiles and shakes her hand, Salvador shaking her hand as well. Merrill giggles and turns to Hawke "Now then, shall we get going?" Hawke nods and she runs off. "Where are you going Merrill?!" She waves for them to follow, leading them into a dark warehouse. She turns to them "I know a spell to get us to where your mother is. But I can't do it out in the open." Hawke frowns "Is it blood magic?" Merrill puts her hands on her hips "Yes. I don't see why that is a problem." Helga frowns "You practice blood magic?" Merrill nods "Aye, I do. Not that it matters. All magic is the same." Hawke frowns "Alright then love, I trust you know what you are doing." She beams at him "Alright then, away we go." She slams down her staff, creating a red penagram on the floor, the 4 of them stumble upon feeling like they fell from the sky, landing in a heap in the foundry in Darktown. Hawke stands, noticing the trail of blood, helping his three companions stand before following the trail to a trapdoor.

Hawke nearly broke seeing his mother in the state she was. She was a shambling reanimated corpse, with her skin covered in patchwork pieces of other women. She wore a white dress that was smeared with blood and covered in dirt as she crawled on all fours across the floor, mindlessly bound to the mage in the room. Hawke draws his staff "You… You bastard! What did you do to my mother?!" He snarls "You will never understand my purpose! Your mother was chosen because she is special, and now she is a part of something greater than herself. I have done the impossible. I have touched the face of the Maker and lived!" Hawke growls "You insane bastard!" He groans in exasperation "You will never understand! This… this love is more powerful than anything in the universe!" Hawke goes to hit him with a barrage of elemental orbs, but he creates a shield to protect himself, summoning undead to attack him.

Hawke creates rock armor around his body, summoning a fireball and blasting apart one of the undead. Helga and Salvador cut down another. Shades swarm towards them, summoned by the blood mage, and Hawke fires a lightning bolt that significantly weakens and stuns all three shades, making them easy prey for his sword wielding allies. Three undead women rise from the ground, suddenly shifting into desire demons. Hawke's magic doesn't affect them much and one of them freezes Salvador before turning to Helga. Helga pulls a metal rod from her hip and grins, pressing a button on its side and it fires a bolt of magic at the desire demon. The demon staggers from the blast but hovers right towards her, only to be frozen in rock by Hawke. Helga charges a much more powerful blast and she fires it at the desire demon, blasting it apart. Helga smiles and the scepter spits out a spent metal cartridge Hawke assumed contained lyrium, and she pops in another. Hawke traps another desire demon in crushing prison as Salvador finishes the last one with Merrill's help, hitting it with a strong slash as she freezes it. The blood mage looks at Hawke in alarm as he uses the blade at the end of his staff to slash open the front of his robes, the mage falling to the ground. Hawke stabs him through the heart, twisting the blade and then turning towards his mother "Mother!" He runs to catch his mother and she stumbles into his arms "Mother… I'm sorry. I failed you." She shakes her head "No, no… You didn't fail me darling. If you had not come, I would have been trapped here, forever, under his control. Now, I can be free." Hawke lets a few tears slip "I… if I were stronger, then maybe I could help you." She smiles "Dear, its not your fault. Don't stop making me proud. I love you." She fades away in his arms and he cries, before laying her down and standing to turn to Merrill "There is nothing more that can be done for her."

After the funeral, Oghren walks to Salvador "Guess what? Got a letter from our old pal Sten, wants to know what is going on here in Kirkwall. Requests we speak to the Arishok holed up here." Helga turns to Hawke and Hawke smiles "I'll have Fenris meet you three near the Qunari compound. He can speak the Qun language." Oghren grunts "That will help a lot, because Sten left a message specifically for the Ari-whatsit." Hawke nods "Alright, just, try not to antagonize him if you can help it." Helga smiles and turns to Salvador 'If they are just delivering a message, what say we just go back to the mansion?" Oghren grunts 'Or, Salvy and Fenris can deliver the message and we can go back to the mansion." Salvador punches him in the arm "Or Helga can deliver the message and I can kick your ass." Salvador grins "Alright little brother, sounds like fun." Helga turns from them and sighs "By the Stone… I swear to whatever holy deity is listening, grant me patience…" Salvador whispers to Oghren "It worked, let's go get drunk."


	16. Chapter 16

Fenris looks down at Helga "So, just you?" Helga shrugs "Well too many of us would look threatening." Fenris nods "Fair enough. Hand me the letter." Helga hands it over and Fenris reads it over "Your friend Sten is a stand in Arishok in the absence of the true Arishok. That will make this go a little rough, but its nothing I cannot talk my way through. Let's go meet with the Arishok. Let me do all the talking." Helga's mind wandered as the two exchanged Qun dialogue. The Arishok's sudden shift in body language made Helga reach for her weapon, making the Arishok smile "You have a good reaction time. You should fear me, cave dweller, for this friend of yours hopes to take what is mine, and undermine me. I find it interesting that you found yourself in the company of this Qunari, and that he was able to contact you without incident. Know this: my business here is far more important than any nonsense grab at power he attempts. Once I return with what rightfully belongs to me, I will return to my station, and him to his, for the Tamarassans made me Arishok and it is a title I will carry with me to the grave. Leave my presence, lest I have you both killed, I tire of this conversation."

Helga and Salvador are locking swords, a few days after her meeting with the Arishok, with Oghren absently playing with her magic scepter. He accidently fires it and Helga turns to him "Don't play with that!" She runs over and grabs it from him, and he puts up his hands "It's just interesting is all. Explain this thing to me again." She smiles "It focuses lyrium in a way that mimics how a person would, firing it as bolts of pure magic." Oghren whistles "That brain of yours is something else baby." There was suddenly the sound of fighting outside. Oghren runs and grabs his sword "5 sovereigns says it's those damn Qunari!" He bursts through the door, growling. "Sod it all, I hate being right." He exchanges sword slashes with a Qunari, his size making it awkward for the Qunari to defend and he loses a leg before being killed. Oghren deflects an arrow with his sword, grinning and rushing towards the archer. A shadowed figure leaps down behind the Qunari and slashes right through him, spinning and landing in front of the three dwarves, looking up at Helga, who gasps "Draven! Good to see you!" He smiles and stands, stretching "So much for retirement."

Hawke, Merrill, Varric and Fenris fight their way into Hightown, where they are stopped short by a powerful blast from a Saarebas. The Saarebas closes in towards them, preparing to finish the job, before being slain by Knight Commander Meredith. Hawke pushes himself to his feet "Thanks, Knight Commander." She smiles "I'll put it on your tab. Along with allowing a free mage to roam Kirkwall, I also saved said mages' life. Now, we must make for the Viscount's Keep, and ensure the ox-men do not kill him." Hawke nods, making his way further on, only to run into a large pack of the Qunari. Hawke conjures his rock armor and a barrier for added protection, only for the group to get blasted by several elemental mines. Draven leaps through them, in a flash of spinning blades. And the few that remain are picked off by an unknown archer. Draven sheathes his blades, walking right up to a confused Hawke, forcefully shaking his hand "Draven, leader of the former Midnight Crows. Hero of the 5th blight, and rouge extraordinaire. You must be Hawke, good to meet you, now let's keep moving, no time to waste." Hawke stares and Draven puts his hands on his hips "I have that effect on a lot of people, I understand."

Hawke runs next to Draven, noticing the dead bodies "You do all this?" Draven shrugs "Na, there is my wife on the roofs and my dwarven friends securing us a path forward." Hawke nods and as they get closer to the Viscount's Keep Draven drops into stealth, appearing behind a group that Helga, Salvador and Oghren were engaging. Draven throws daggers in their back, allowing the three dwarves to finish several of them and Draven deflects the sword slash of one, leaping over the horizontal attack of another, and throws sleeping powder in the face of a third. Oghren carves the asleep one in half before he can even collapse, Helga taking an arrow from an archer. Draven turns in time to see his wife kill this archer and throws his dagger to kill the other. He waves Hawke inside as more Qunari approach their position "You and your party get inside, we can hold the line." Hawke nods and rushes inside, and as he opens the door to the throne room he sees the room is full of frightened nobles. The Arishok sits on the throne of the Viscount, throwing his head at the feet of Hawke. "Penance, finally, for time wasted in this infested hell." Hawke draws his staff "You will regret that, Arishok." Isabella runs into the chamber, then she frowns when she sees the head of the Viscount "I was too late it would seem." The Arishok stands "The relic! Seize her!" Hawke points the blade on the bottom of his staff at a Qunari who gets too close, and Isabella throws the book in his direction "Take it and leave. Relic wasn't worth the trouble!" The Arishok smiles "I'm sorry, but it will not be that easy! I'll have her head, Hawke. I suggest you hand the thief over." Hawke shakes his head "I will do no such thing!" The Arishok growls and Fenris turns to Hawke "If I may, Hawke, I could arrange a solution." Hawke nods "Very well." Fenris says something to the Arishok in Qunlat, and the Arishok scratches his chin "A duel? For the woman? I accept." Hawke nods "If that will get you to leave without harming anyone else, then so be it."

The Arishok draws his sword and his axe. Hawke takes a few steps back, drawing his staff and then he frowns "Maybe we need to take this outside? Lot of innocents standing around." The Arishok grunts and smirks "Like I care. But, very well." Outside the Viscount's Keep are several statues. Hawke looks up at the statue of a warrior and arms himself with rock armor "Now, its just you and me. A fight to the death, then?" The Arishok nods and grunts "I hope you made peace with your death before you followed me out here." Hawke growls "I will avenge the lives lost here." The Arishok begins with an impressive combination of slashes, left and right, a spinning slash and an uppercut slash. Hawke deflects each aside by spinning his staff, using mind blast to knock back his assaulter. Hawke forms a glyph at his feet as he fires bolts of energy from his staff that the Arishok shakes off. The Arishok runs right at Hawke, pushing against the barrier formed by his Glyph of Repulsion. The Arishok shields his face with his arms as Hawke launches a fireball at him, with Hawke's glyph expired the Arishok rushes right at Hawke so fast he catches Hawke off guard, knocking him over. He slides and spins, slamming his sword down and Hawke narrowly rolls out of the way. He rolls to his feet, dodging or deflecting the Arishok's assault, but can't keep up, the Arishok managing to cut him right across the stomach. The Arishok goes for an overhead swing and Hawke forms a barrier that narrowly deflects the attack aside.

Hawke leaps back from the Arishok, summoning rock that petrifies the Arishok and holds him in place. As he lands he creates a large rock with Stonefist. Just before his attack could land, the Arishok forces out of Hawke's spell and he dodges the massive rock hurled his way. Hawke fires a powerful bolt of lightning at the Arishok and he dodges this as well, the blast destroying the base of one of the statues. "Your magic does not phase me. And your barriers and armor merely delay the inevitable." The Arishok spins his weapons "You will tire, in time, because your race is weak and even as the best amongst them, you are nothing compared to a Qunari." Hawke smirks "Tire out? No, I can keep this up, no problem. Come on big guy, another round?" The Arishok nods solemnly "Very well, bas." The Arishok dashes in close to him, and Hawke raises one hand, creating a towering wall of flames. The Arishok leaps right through the flames, both weapons raised, and Hawke leaps out of the way. The Arishok sweeps with both his weapons, catching Hawke and cutting his lower chest, deepening the gash on his stomach and breaking off sections of his rock armor. The force of the spinning slash causes Hawke to spin and fall on his face. The Arishok stomps on his back "Failure!" He hesitates, on the verge of landing the killing blow, when he hears the sound of a blade dragging across the ground. He turns, seeing Neros approaching slowly and smiling "Arishok. Itwa-ost (you all fall) I am Katari! (one who brings death)." Arishok smiles "You wish to fight me? Meravas (so it shall be)."

Draven walks outside and helps Hawke to his feet, pulling him off to the side then looks over at Errissa, who was standing far back. The Arishok and Neros size each other up, walking around in a circle slowly. Draven watches this then looks over at Errissa "So, Neros is alive? Some magic of yours?" Errissa nods "I gave him back a physical body." Draven folds his arms "Let's see how he does against the Arishok then I suppose." Both Neros and the Arishok lock swords, Neros managing to push him back, sporting the strength advantage. The Arishok unleashes a barrage of slashes, diagonal cuts, which Neros deflects aside. Neros blocks the Arishok's horizontal double weapon sweep with his blade pointed down, turning the blade up and forcing the Arishok's attack up and over his head, the momentum making the Arishok spin, and Neros drives his sword through his back. Neros pulls the blade out and grins "I was hoping for a greater challenge." The Arishok stumbles forward and leans against a pillar, clutching his wound. Disarmed and badly wounded, he did not like his odds. But, surrender was not an option. He charges right at Neros, who chuckles a little, slicing off one of his arms, before decapitating him "Such a bull headed, stubborn bas."


	17. Chapter 17

Knight Commander Merideth stands in front of the nobles in the throne room "The Qunari leader is defeated, and the rest of his followers are fleeing, but now the issue becomes: who will lead us? With the Viscount dead and his son gone, it would seem that it falls to me to lead." Draven walks up and sits on the throne "Actually, that job falls to me." Meredith growls "You dare sit on the throne of the deceased Viscount?" Draven holds out a piece of paper "Well, seeing as how its my throne now, I don't see why not." Meredith reads the papers and then throws it back at him "Fine then. Templars!" She leaves with her honor guard and Draven sits back on his new throne, Errissa walking up to him "You are the son of the former Viscount?" Draven frowns "I didn't tell you? Oh, its almost as if I was trying to keep it a secret or something." Draven smiles when he sees his wife approaching. First, she was his assassin and he was her mark. Then he was her teacher, and she was his pupil. Finally, they were lovers. Draven motions to Errissa "Dear, this is Errissa, a companion I used to fight beside. Errissa, this is my wife Nalia." Nalia curtsies to her and Errissa looks her over. She was wiry for a human, perfect lithe frame for a rouge. The bow on her back was large and impressive, with ornate grooves in the metal stock. Instead of full armor, she wore a reinforced leather vest and armguards, black of course. She was also notably pale, with brown hair and hazel colored eyes. Errissa smiles "Nice catch Draven." Nalia smiles "Thank you. So, you're the Viscount now Draven?" He nods "And there are going to be some changes around here.

Draven quickly began to draw support from many nobles, using his power to impose stricter policies on the Templars of the Kirkwall circle. The Templars, as a result, became more abusive. Draven struggled to investigate killings, and the death count began to pile up. He growls as he looks down at the letter from the Knight-Commander. What he wouldn't give to have that woman's head on his plate. Irritating and very stubborn, she was a danger to the mages, but he had a notable number of noble nemesis'. Neros walks into his office, without knocking or anything, sitting across from Draven "Hey." Draven nods and looks up from his papers "Nice job against the Arishok." Neros shrugs "Thanks, but not why I am here." Draven motions with his hand "Go ahead, speak your mind." Neros sighs "Errissa brought me back to life, and the fact that the group was split up… I'm a little disappointed to be honest." Draven shrugs "Together we did a lot of good, but losing you was just as bad as when I lost a friend of mine a while back. I heard about Wynne's passing and then, a few years back, I lost Flynt. Maxis is unreachable, Jacob is a king, you know how these things go. But, we are always going to be family." Errissa walks out of the corner she was standing in, not at all surprising Draven but catching Neros off guard "Speaking of Maxis, she may need our help."

Errissa, Neros, Nalia stand outside the door of Oghren's mansion, Errissa knocking again and again though no one wants to answer. After a little while Helga pulls the door open a little "Hey, Errissa. Good to see you. The boys are just gearing up. I need to set this one out. Feeling sick. Come in." She stumbles a little then runs for the restroom, hand over her mouth. Oghren and Salvador walk out into the living room in full armor and with their battleaxes. Errissa smiles "Oghren, Salvador, you guys have a nice mansion, spiffy new armor. Are you guys settling down? Next you are going to tell me that you don't drink anymore." Oghren and Salvador glance at each other and start laughing so hard, Oghren can barely breathe. Salvador looks up at Errissa "Give up drinking? Sod it all you crack me up." Salvador heads out the door, pushing past the group "Come on you guys, got stuff to kill." The 5 travel together, following the map to the Deep Road entrance. Errissa puts up her hand and she focuses "Oghren and Salvador, you guys should lead."

Generally, traveling the Deep Roads was a death sentence. But the only darkspawn the group encountered were stragglers. Oghren walks through the abandoned thiag and he chuckles "The legion of the dead must of came through here recently." Errissa shakes her head "No, Maxis did." She walks over to a few of the darkspawn corpses. Some had been slashed apart, with a sword, but some looked like they had been shredded by animalistic claws, and the claw marks had also left deep burns. In addition, some had holes through their head, but no arrows or bolts, and the same burn effect on that wound as well. As they continued forward, Oghren raises his hand "Everyone stop. My stone sense is tingling." Salvador chuckles "You're a moron. I don't sense anything." The ground begins to rumble and Salvador looks over at him before drawing his sword "Alright perhaps you were right. You're still a moron though." A massive Ogre turns the corner and glares at the group, charging at them quickly. Oghren runs right at it, rolling between the legs of the charging ogre and cutting his leg, making him stumble and he runs shoulder first into a pillar, blasting it apart, regaining his balance and resuming his charge. Nalia fires several arrows at it, but they don't sink in, the ogre's tough hide is too thick for the arrows to penetrate. Nalia leaps up and throws a grapple hook around a pillar to swing her up and onto the beast. Errissa hits it in the face with a fireball to halt its charge, and Nalia stabs her daggers into its neck, sliding off its back and dragging her daggers through its flesh as she falls off. The ogre howls in pain and thrashes, throwing Nalia off and just before his hand connects with Errissa a shield blocks it from her left, saving her from its crushing blow. Maxis chuckles and draws her sword, and in one swift slash she decapitates the beast.

Maxis helps the 4 to start a campfire, before sitting by the campfire to relax. Errissa begins to notice by the light of the campfire that Maxis looks completely different. Other than her new hairstyle (her sides were buzzed off, giving her a rougish appearance) her veins were prominent in her neck, around her eyes, a few on her arms and one across her forehead. These veins pulsed with a dark, magical energy. As she strips out of her armor and down to her underclothes, Errissa notices she is wearing much heavier armor, her shield is much larger, and her sword was longer as well. Altogether it had to be 80 plus pounds of gear. If Maxis was impressive before, now she's an absolute beast. Maxis stretches her arms, cracks her neck and her knuckles and sighs "Been days since I took that armor off last." Everyone tries to ignore the smell and Maxis notices "Sorry guys, I heard my Calling and I've been down here for several years." Neros grunts "That explains why its so quiet down here. You have been butchering all the darkspawn for some time now." Maxis nods "I'm growing much more powerful thanks to my excursion down here. What brings you four down here? And who is the new girl?" Nalia holds out a hand "I'm Nalia, Draven's wife." Maxis whistles "That guy finally settled down." Errissa noticed a disturbing echo to Maxis' voice, which seemed to be a product of this dark magic. Errissa looks Maxis over again "So, Maxis, tell us, what happened to you since we last were together?" Maxis sighs "That… is a long story. So I'll tell the short version for our impatient, dwarven company. Essentially, I wound up outside a Deep Roads entrance, heard my Calling, descended into the Deep Roads, scraped by for a few months, then found this special lyrium and now I'm just cleaning up the Deep Roads." Errissa stands "Special lyrium?" Maxis stands as well "Follow me."

They stare at the vein of red lyrium as Maxis sits in front of it cross-legged "In the same way I trained the darkspawn taint in my body to tap into their endurance and strength, I learned to suppress and tap into this new power source. With it, not only can I use magic, but I also never require food, water or sleep. I am beyond human at this point. So, I keep myself secluded down here. I don't belong on the surface anymore." Errissa nods "We came down here because I sensed something in you was different, so I thought you were in need of help. But I can see that you have made quite an impression down here and have made your mark." Maxis nods "I appreciate the concern. It's been great, seeing you guys again. But, you should probably get back home. I'll help you guys out of here."


	18. Chapter 18

Knight Commander Meredith, Draven and First Enchanter Orsino sit at a small round table. Draven looks to both of them "Orsino, Meredith, I am certain you know why I brought you here." Meredith folds her arms stubbornly "I haven't an inkling of an idea what business you would need both of us here for." Orsino slams down his fist "Damn it Meredith, this is the second meeting we held together and you still pretend that you know nothing of the mages treatment, when we all know better." Meredith glares at him "Orsino, I'm only doing my job. And that is Knight Commander Meredith to you!" He glares at her "I'm a First Enchanter and you better not forget-" She leans closer to him "I don't care what rank you are, you are still just a mage!" Draven growls "Shut up. Both of you." Meredith glares at him "Excuse me?" He sits back in his chair, his fingertips pressed together and he takes a deep breath "Meredith, I have half a mind to find a hole to shove you in for the actions of the men that it is your job to direct." Orsino nods and Draven points to Orsino "And as for you, I would appreciate if you were not inciting your mages to break curfew and other restrictions. Drawing the ire of the Templars is unwise. Don't be foolish, and stop giving them a reason to be angry. Look, both of you. It's about time we sat down with a Grand Cleric of the Chantry and we worked out our problems." Meredith pushes herself to her feet, knocking over her chair "I don't answer to you! I answer only to the Chantry. I don't have time for this foolishness!" Draven stands "You don't understand. I'm trying to prevent conflict." Meredith turns to him as she is leaving "If putting them in their place is not enough, putting them down is the next step." She slams the door behind her. Draven looks over at Orsino and sighs "Maybe the Grand Cleric can help me. You are dismissed."

Amere stands inside the Chantry, and Anders walks to him. Amere smiles "Anders. Good friend. I haven't seen you since Amaranthine." Anders nods "Yes. Things have been… difficult. As I mentioned in my letter, I allowed Justice to become a part of me." Amere leans against a pillar "Yes. I must admit, your plan is rather crazy. But I got you a list of the materials you will need." Amere holds out a piece of paper and Anders looks it over "This looks easy enough, but I will need Hawke to agree to this." Amere chuckles "Are you going to tell him the truth?" Anders looks away and Amere laughs "I thought so." Anders growls "I'm doing the right thing! How dare you laugh. At least I'm doing something!" Amere nods a little "That is true. You are going to start a war." Anders glares at him "A revolution. A revolution that will change the world. Mages deserve freedom." Amere walks towards the door and Anders sighs, clenching his fists "Damn it, I don't need someone lecturing me on what is right and what is wrong. I am not going to change my mind no matter what. I hate lying to Hawke, but Hawke will understand." He walks outside and a crow flies low overhead, crowing and catching him off guard. He sees something out of the corner of his eye and turns towards the Chantry's second floor balcony, sees nothing then shrugs and walks towards Darktown.

Oghren, Salvador, Helga, Varric and Errissa sit at a table in the Hanged Man. The waitress brings over three pints and Oghren folds his arms "You aren't drinking Errissa?" She shakes her head "No. I'm not a drinker." Salvador chuckles "Elves and your weak ass guts. Sodding hell." Errissa smirks "Just remember, you brought this hell on yourself. Waitress, one more for me." She nods and heads to the bar as Errissa turns to Helga "You aren't drinking today?" Helga shakes her head "Well, I'm pregnant. So no, I won't be drinking." Oghren grins and Salvador grunts, taking a large gulp of his beer. Helga kisses Salvador on the cheek and then pats her brother on the arm "You're going to be an uncle? Excited?" He chuckles "Not particularly, but not much changin' it now, is there?" Helga chuckles "I'm sure Oghren will make a good father." Varric chuckles "Yeah, I'm sure he will teach your child all the wonderful things about being a dwarf, like drinking, swearing, clubbing things over the head and other dwarvy things." Helga giggles "And I'm sure as their godparent, you will tell the kiddo some of your amazing stories." Varric puts a hand to his chest "Me? Really? Well, I only knew you guys for a few years, but you are practically family. I'm honored." Errissa gets her drink, taking a couple gulps from it. Salvador grins "Want to see who can outdrink who?" Errissa points at him "You're on!"

Errissa falls through the door to her house and stumbles to her bed. She didn't have nearly the same constitution as a dwarf, and Salvador easily outdrank her. She lays in her bed when a crow flies in her window and transforms into the lithe form of Morrigan. Errissa looks over at her and Morrigan smiles "Wasted, are we? Well then I suppose I will wait until you rest off this drunk state before I try to talk to you." Errissa yawns "No, no, go ahead." Morrigan sighs "Well, I think that Anders, Hawke's companion, is up to something shady. Worth checking into. So much so that Leliana has one of her scouts tailing him." Errissa sits up "I'll talk to Draven." Morrigan nods "Whatever it is, Amere is involved in it." Errissa goes wide eyed "That sneaky Antivian is skulking around here somewhere and he doesn't even have the decency to stop in for a visit?" Morrigan laughs and sits on the bed next to her "How have you been, by the way?" Errissa smiles "I was hoping you would ditch the business and get to the pleasantries."

When history tells the story of the Mage Templar wars, they will speak of the fool who destroyed the Chantry. Or perhaps he will be seen as a hero. A martyr. But to Neros, he was the enemy. Anders had manipulated Hawke and planted an explosive in the Chantry. As the highly explosive bomb went off, the entire city of Kirkwall shook. The magical pillar shoots up into the sky as the Chantry is vaporized. Anders turns to Hawke and Hawke growls "Anders, how could you! This isn't the way! There were going to be peaceful talks!" Errissa runs out of her home and stares at the vaporized tower "No!" She runs towards it and Neros catches her around the waist "Don't get any closer!" She screams out "What the hell happened?!" Neros pushes her a little and stares down at her "What has you so shook up?!" Tears stream down her cheeks "Draven was meeting with the Grand Cleric! He was in the Chantry!" Neros glares over at Anders "I'm going to kill you for this!" Hawke holds his arms open to stop Neros and Neros punches him in the gut hard, making Hawke double over. Anders draws his staff, only to have an arrow hit him in the chest. He gasps and drops to his knees, just as another arrow hits him in the head and kills him. Neros turns to Errissa "All out war is going to break out. It's time we got the hell out of here." Errissa shakes her head "No, we need to stay and protect the people. It's what Draven would have wanted."


	19. Chapter 19

Hawke pushes himself to his feet, glaring at Neros but he regains his composure. Hawke looks over at Errissa "I need you guys to protect the Mage tower from assault, I'll go find Knight Commander Meredith and try to stem the tide of blood!" Errissa nods "Salvador and Oghren can try to thin out the fighting in the city, to allow the citizens to escape." Hawke nods "They can regroup with Aveline and they should be able to contain the violence." Nalia and Lisette drop down next to Errissa. Nalia appears like she had been crying but she regains her composure "I am going to help contain the fighting from the rooftops, but Lisette is on strict orders to oversee the death of Knight Commander Meredith." Hawke nods "I appreciate the assistance." Hawke runs off with Lisette and he is joined by Fenris, Merril and Varric as they charge off to hunt down the Knight Commander. Errissa turns to Nalia "Find Oghren and Salvador. We need to lock down the city." Nalia leaps onto the second story roof and she runs off.

As the mages are forced to fight for their life, they resort to blood magic and the entire city is flooded with abominations and Templars at war. Salvador rushes outside, sword at the ready, cutting down the first abomination he sees, only for a Templar to inexplicably attack him on instinct. Salvador rolls to avoid the swing of his mace, swinging his sword with all his might and hitting the Templar's shield, knocking him down. Oghren runs outside and together they fight through groups of abominations and Templars, when there is a cry from their house. Salvador turns towards it "Helga!" An abomination hits him with a fireball from behind, and he spins, cutting it down. An abomination grabs Helga by her throat, growling right in her face as it starts to drain blood from her body. She punches it right in the eye and it throws her across the room and she slams against the wall, landing on the table and knocking it over as she rolls off it to the floor. She scrambles for anything, her hand finding her scepter. The abomination goes to grab her again and she casts a magic bolt from her scepter into its face, stunning it. Oghren cuts the abomination down and she smiles "Thanks." He grunts "No time. You aren't safe here, you are going to have to come with us. Gear up." She nods and rushes to get armor on, Salvador watching the door and guarding them as they get ready. Oghren smiles to her and stops her before she leaves the house, kissing her "We are gonna make it through this." Helga smiles "I know we will." She touches his cheek softly and he grunts "Sodding hell, I'm going soft as clay aren't I?" Salvador slugs him on the arm "Don't worry, I'll always be here to give you hell and make sure you don't go soft."

Nalia drops in front of the three dwarves "The plan is to escort all the townspeople to the docks. We move as a unit, I'll support you from the rooftops." Oghren grunts "Sodding hell, you look like shit. What exactly is going on?" Nalia growls "Now isn't the time. We need to get these people to safety. The shit hit the fan and we have work to do!" Salvador puts an arm around Helga "Nalia, can you escort my sister to safety? She's pregnant and she's not able to fight right now, she was attacked." Helga nudges him away "I can still fight." Nalia shakes her head "No, actually, Helga can help hold the docks from attack. She would be away from the thickest concentration of fighting, but she could still assist." Helga sighs and nods "As you wish." Salvador nods "Good. Where should we meet you?" Nalia shakes her head "Just go, I'll have no trouble finding you. The smell of booze on you both is like a beacon." She smirks and takes off down the path "Let's go Helga!" Helga follows her as Nalia picks off any opposition in front of them as quietly as she can. Salvador and Oghren, for their part, begin to slaughter abominations in the Hightown courtyard. Salvador sees people in the windows of the houses, watching the fighting and he turns to Oghren "We need to gather all of the people together, and move them at once." Oghren nods "Not a bad idea."

Helga walks to Aveline, and the redhead guardswoman smiles at her "Good to see I won't be holding this line alone. Most of my guards have turned their back on me and are supporting the Templars." Helga shakes her head "What a damn shame." They stand at the ready as Nalia escorts groups of citizens to the docks, moving them in large groups as the dwarven berserkers begin to thin out the Templar and abominations in the city. Nalia leaps down in front of Aveline "The dwarves have scanned most the city, and are going to escort any stragglers they find. As for me, I will be checking on how things are going at the Circle Tower." Aveline nods "Good luck, we will get these people on the boats and start shipping them out." They salute each other and Nalia leaps onto the rooftops again, on her way towards the Circle Tower. Nalia looks across the burning city and she growls "Why Draven? Damn it all… I can't believe that he is gone." She hears footsteps behind her "Gone where? Where have I gone?" Nalia turns to Draven, who's face is burnt on his right side, his clothes horribly singed and his right arm is burned badly. He smiles "You thought that explosion would kill me?" She leaps into his arms and they kiss as she cries happily. He breaks the kiss "You have done well, but we need to finish matters here. The time for talk is obviously over."

Morrigan, Errissa and Neros were too late to stem the tide of the initial attack, but once clearing the courtyard to allow the mages to retreat they decided to hold the bridge to the Mages Tower, when suddenly Amere appears from the shadows to stab a Templar from behind. Errissa smirks "Amere, you never miss a chance to fight do you?" He shakes his head "Never, my dear." He draws his sword and deflects a sword slash from a Templar, taking advantage of his off balance state to stab him through the chest. He runs towards one, leaping into his shield and pushing himself off the shield into the air, and he drops an Antivian firebomb on the group. He lands on his feet and with a sweep of his arms he begins to control and manipulate the fire, allowing him to hold the line himself "Retreat back and make sure everyone is alright. I'll hold them off." Errissa nods and all three run into the mage tower courtyard. She runs towards Orsino, who eyes the carnage "This… this slaughtering of our people. Why not just kill us when we are born, why give us this semblance of hope? What kind of sadistic person… I'm tired of running. I'm tired of this." Errissa yells out "We must stay the course, we can't give up now!" He clenches his fists "I'm not giving up, I'm giving in! Meredith wants to see blood magic?! I'll show her blood magic!" He slashes his hand open and the bodies of the dead mages gravitate towards him, attaching to his body and wrapping around him. Soon, the mass of bodies forms an amalgamation of flesh that has the mouth of a demon on its chest. Errissa growls "Damn you Orsino, why did you have to do this?" Orsino runs at Neros and knocks him aside, his mind now completely taken over by whatever kind of demon this was. Morrigan summons a tar like grease, causing Orsino to lose his footing and Errissa ignites it, but the fire barely phases him and he picks up Errissa in one of his large hands. Neros stabs Orsino through the back, forcing him to drop her.

The demon formerly known as Orsino knocks Neros away, ripping out one of the support pillars and swinging it like a club. Errissa barely has time to cast a barrier to cushion the impact, but it is taken out in one shot and she hits the opposite wall hard. She forces herself to stand as Morrigan fires a cone of lightning at the Harvester. Lisette leaps down from above, firing several arrows at it as she strafes around it. Morrigan turns into a crow to avoid it's sweeping attack and Lisette leaps backwards over it, loosing an explosive arrow mid-air. Neros stabs the Harvester through the back, making it flail angrily. It runs backwards and smashes Neros into a pillar. Neros slides off its back as it charges towards Morrigan. Morrigan turns into a wolf, sprinting between its legs, then turns into a giant spider, leaping on its back and sinking her fangs into it. She leaps back away from it turning human and shooting a spirit bolt at it and it turns towards her, charging right at her and snatching her up. The Harvester crushes her and Morrigan cries out as the life is squeezed right out of her body, and her limp body is thrown aside. Errissa summons her fade magic, a hand larger than the Harvester grabbing it up in its grasp and crushing it swiftly. Errissa summons up her healing magics to bring Morrigan back from the brink, running next to her to ensure it worked, smiling down at her friend as she coughs and tries to sit up "That… is no way… to treat a lady." She passes out.

As they charge towards the fighting at the Viscount's mansion Neros looks towards Errissa "Your fade magic hand thingy, why do you not use it more often?" Errissa sighs "Because it requires a lot of time for me to concentrate and weakens the Veil considerably." Neros nods "Yeah, that's not a very tactical option." Errissa stops once they get close and Maxis pushes right past them. Maxis walks right to the face of Meredith "Meredith, you play with powers you do not understand." Meredith sneers at her "I do the Maker's work." Hawke's group are scattered about, exhausted from fighting Meredith. Meredith and Maxis exchange sword slashes. Meredith is surprised by how easily Maxis keeps up with her. Maxis deflects her sword slash with her shield, slashing her chestplate open with a couple sword swings before Meredith blasts her back. Maxis rolls to her feet and fires shards of red lyrium from her hand at Meredith, who swings her sword and slashes or deflects them all. Maxis nods in approval "I'm impressed, honest. But, I don't have time to waste on you." Maxis channels her power into her shield and sword and both become much larger, with red lyrium spikes jutting out. Her own body increases in size, but Meredith manages to grow taller as well. The titans exchange blows and Meredith begins to overwhelm Maxis, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her to the ground. Maxis glares up at her and Meredith grins, sword raised "The Maker favors me, it would seem." Maxis raises her hand, firing a concentrated blast of red lyrium right through Meredith's chest. Maxis smirks "Perhaps not." Meredith stumbles back from her, gasping as the red lyrium consumes her and turns her dying body to stone.

With Orsino and Meredith dead, the mage rebellion claimed most of Kirkwall and many fled it, allowing the two sides to fight amongst themselves. The rebellion soon consumed all of Thedas and the Midnight Crows once again found themselves scattering to opposite corners of Thedas. Draven stands outside his small cottage with his wife, sighing as she helps him inside, his wounds causing him to tire more frequently. For that matter, it had been made plainly clear to him that no amount of training would allow him to return to his prime, and the explosion that should of taken his life had succeeded in killing him a little inside. He lies on the bed and Nalia touches his chest softly "Everything is going to be okay darling." He sighs "Everything is changing. Whether it will work out for the better still remains to be seen."


End file.
